The Cupid of Konoha High
by percylover101
Summary: After two years of going to single-sex schools, the gang is finally reunited, and with Naruto Uzumaki deciding the time is ripe for some matchmaking, things at Konoha High School will never be the same..."CUE RAGING HORMONES AND TANGIBLE SEXUAL TENSION, TEME!" "Say it one more time, dobe. Say it one. More. Time."
1. Introductions

**Hey guys! This is my first time writing a Naruto Fanfiction, so bear with me on this. I've been ridiculously inspired by the Konoha High School stories I've been reading lately, so I had to give this a shot…**

**Just so you know, I happen to mildly dislike the Sasu/Saku pairing, and last I checked, I'm not that funny…so it's a good thing I'm writing a Romance/Humor story where the main couple is Sasuke and Sakura, huh? I promise, this was going to be all angsty and intense, but then I realized I just couldn't take this pairing seriously, so…we ended up with this. Good luck, ladies and gents. **

**Warning: Contains terrifying obscenities, destruction of childhood objects of vast sentimental value, and completely unnecessary sexual references. Though not in this first chapter here. This one is pretty nice and clean! LET'S GO.**

**WAIT HOLD UP. I don't own Naruto. Thank God for that, because if I did, it would probably be 20 hours straight of Naruto and Sasuke doing unspeakable things to each other…MWUHAHAHAHA. YAOI FOREVER. Anyways. Shall we begin? Methinks we shall!**

Introductions

"Ohmigosh, there he is!"

"He. Is. So. HAWT."

"I could stare at him forever!"

"All I want to do is give him enough doses of GHB to knock him out for the rest of his life!"

The posse of girls stopped their excited whispers to turn in confusion to Karin, who was all of a sudden turning a bright shade of red.

Kin spoke first, staring down Karin in utter bewilderment. "GHB is a date-rape drug. You…you do know that's illegal, right?"

"Karin, I think you just admitted to having tendencies towards necrophilia," Tayuya added, a look of sheer terror on her face.

"But you were kidding about that, right, Karin?" Ami asked, giving Karin a death glare that was the epitome of subtlety.

"_There's the shovel, honey," Ami's eyes said. "Start diggin'!"_

Karin laughed then, a high-pitched squeal that seemed just a tad bit unnecessary. "Of course I was kidding, guys! What kind of an obsessive stalker would actually plan to do something like that?"

The rest of the girls laughed with her, their previous unease dissipating. "Guess they're not quite ready for that, huh, Ami?" Karin muttered under her breath to the purple-haired girl by her, who nodded vigorously.

"What'd you say, Karin?" Tayuya asked absently. Her eyes were focused on the dark-haired male that was standing by the lockers with a group of nearly ten other students.

"OH!" Karin said, stammering and adjusting her glasses rapidly. "I-I-I was just saying that it's s-so weird that a guy as amazing as HIM hasn't shown any interest in a girl yet!"

"Too true," Kin agreed fervently, and Karin sighed in relief, one hand still fingering her pocket full of GHB. "He should be hanging out with me…I mean, us! We would be the perfect girl friends for him!"

"Although he happens to have an excellent taste in guy friends," Tayuya giggled, staring dreamily at one of the aforementioned 'guy friends' who was lying on the ground, one eye cracked open in a barely-believable semblance of consciousness.

"Except for those four," Ami said with distaste, staring pointedly at a boy wearing creeper sunglasses whilst indoors, a…plump…boy stuffing his face with potato chips, a boy hanging onto a puppy for dear life, and a boy so legitimately freaky that none of them could even comment on his appearance. The girls all nodded their heads, turning back to stare at the dark-haired male once more, the one who just so happened to be the hottest guy to have walked through Konoha High School…

"WE ARE THE KONOHA 7. PLUS SASUKE. FEAR US."

"Naruto, for the last time, stop screaming that out in the middle of conversations," Neji Hyuuga said dismissively, leaning against a locker in the ultimate pose of 'I'm too sexy to be talking to you people.'

"And why," Sasuke hissed, biting off each word. "Do you find it necessary to add on the 'plus Sasuke?' What, exactly, is wrong with 'Konoha 8?'"

Naruto shuddered. "Numbers that aren't even give me the creeps."

The entire group turned to stare at the completely clueless blonde. Shikamaru, sighing, decided that he was the best man for this job.

"Eh, Naruto," Shikamaru began, not quite knowing why he was taking the trouble to respond to such an idiotic statement. "Seven isn't even. But, uh…eight is."

Naruto glared daggers at the Nara. "What are you talking about? Seven has the WORD 'even' in it. Eight does not. Therefore, seven is an even number."

This time no one had a response, except for a general sweatdrop throughout the eight males. Of course, all the guys who thought they were too cool for sweatdropping, which happened to be about half of them, merely snorted and turned their head to the side in the classic "I'm too cool to be paying attention to you people right now" pose.

The silence was interrupted by a sniggering Kiba. "Oh man, Lee, Choji, Shino, you guys have got to tell me your secret to getting the ladies to look at you like that!"

"Wha ore oo awing about?" Choji asked, voicing the opinion of all eight boys as he finished off the last mouthful of chips. "Girls don't look at us three like anything."

"Wrong, sir!" Kiba said smugly. "I'll have you know that those senior girls over there are eyeing you guys like you're the hottest things to walk these halls!"

The Konoha 7 plus Sasuke turned to find Karin, Ami, Tayuya, and Kin with their eyes clearly focused on a certain someone who wasn't included in the Konoha 7, though Kiba was still pointing at the four girls as though he had made the discovery of the century.

"You idiot," Neji said simply. "They're staring at Sasuke."

"Hn," stated Sasuke, as though this explained how he felt about the situation entirely. Which, in an odd way, it kind of did.

Naruto, on the other hand, was slightly more verbose. "WHY?" he let out a piercing cry. "WHY ARE GIRLS ALWAYS TRYING TO GET WITH HIM? HE ISN'T _THAT_ SEXY!"

"Actually, he sort of is."

A female voice cut through the slew of angry testosterone, and again, all eight boys found themselves turning, expressions of surprise written on their faces. Except of course, for the ones that thought they were too cool to show emotion. Which was about half of them.

"No way…" Naruto said, mouth hanging open in shock.

Shikamaru grinned. "Well, look who it is. Haven't seen you in a while."

Choji stared at the girl in awe. "Could that really be you?"

"Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto," she said, smiling. "Sasuke," she added, sharp eyes flashing slyly at the Uchiha, who was leaning against the lockers with his hands in his pockets. He merely rolled his eyes and continued staring at the ground.

Neji, on the other hand, gave her a fleeting glance, almost imperceptible, before smirking slightly. The girl's grin widened in response.

"You all haven't changed a bit," she said wickedly, eyes lingering on each one of them. "But how about me? Do I look any different from the girl I was in grade school?"

Choji immediately turned a bright shade of red, mumbling something incoherent and stuffing a handful of chips in his mouth. Shikamaru let out a "Tch, troublesome" and left it at that. Kiba was grinning like an idiot, nodding his head like there was no tomorrow. However, it was finally Neji who decided to gift the girl with a response.

"Yeah, you look different, all right…" Neji said, still smirking at the girl as he eyed the short purple dress that clung to her new curves and the long blonde hair that fell down her back in a perfectly straight ponytail. Her blue eyes flashed mischievously as nearly every one of the boys gave Neji a wide-eyed stare of incredulity. "It has been a long time, though, hasn't it, Ino?"

**And there's the first chapter! I'm sorry, I know, it's really super short, but…it felt necessary! I promise the rest of them will be longer!**

**Sorry if some of the characters seem a little OOC (COUGH NEJI COUGH) but it is, surprisingly enough, necessary for my story to continue in an interesting fashion. Anyways, I've always been able to see Neji as a bit of a womanizer…I mean, all that talk about fate? He's totally talking about girls.**

**So, what do you guys think? Any and all comments are welcome because I really want your guys' feedback on this! Thanks for reading so far!**

**Lates, suckas!**

;) **Leah**


	2. Agreement

**A/N: AHHH! OH MY GOODNESS! Thank you so much to all the people who reviewed/checked out this story! Honestly, the response was way more than I was expecting for that lame chapter that I cranked out in, like, 30 minutes! You guys make me smile =)**

**I know a couple of you were asking when Sakura's getting in here…I'LL GET THERE! SWEARSIES! I should warn all of you, though; Sasuke and Sakura's relationship is going to take a WHILE to happen. Not that I plan on making this story long by any means, but…let's just say I need to put Sasuke and Sakura through all kinds of fun before I let them get together, if you know what I mean. *laughs evilly***

**As for you, ****XxSakuraxHarunoXx****, I WOULD NEVER DREAM OF PUTTING NEJI AND INO TOGETHER. AGH. I guess I should've mentioned this before, but it's going to be all the "normal" pairings, a.k.a. Sasu/Saku, Naru/Hina, Shika/Tem, and Neji/Ten. Wait, did I ruin something? Nah, I think we're good.**

**Again, I don't own Naruto. That belongs to the fantastic Masashi Kishimoto. **

_"Yeah, you look different, all right…" Neji said, still smirking at the girl as he eyed the short purple dress that clung to her new curves and the long blonde hair that fell down her back in a perfectly straight ponytail. Her blue eyes flashed mischievously as nearly every one of the boys gave Neji a wide-eyed stare of incredulity. "It has been a long time, though, hasn't it, Ino?"_

"Hm," Ino said casually, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "It certainly has been. I just can't believe the first two years of Konoha High weren't co-ed. Tragic, wouldn't you say?" She batted her eyelashes at Neji, who was looking quite pleased with himself at this point.

Naruto looked at Ino, then at Neji, then back at Ino, his mouth flapping from side to side all the while. It was enough that the stupid teme over there got the attention of just about every single girl in Konoha High School, but now Neji was in on the secret, too?

"Of all the people in the world," Naruto muttered indiscriminately under his breath.

"What was that, Naruto, dear?" Ino asked sweetly.

"He has no pupils!" Naruto bellowed. "I mean, come on! How is that attractive in the slightest? And anyways, Neji is most definitely gay. I know it. Why else would he spend all that time with that one weird guy with the buns when we were all together in Konoha Academy? There's no other explanation!"

"I do believe that the 'weird guy with buns' you're talking about is me."

Another voice entered the conversation, and a brunette with sparkling brown eyes walked up towards Ino, slinging a sweatshirt-clad arm around the thin girl's shoulder. Rock Lee, who had been mysteriously quiet throughout the conversation, looked up from examining his bowl cut in a mirror at the sound of his old friend's voice.

"Tenten!" he howled happily, jumping up from his position of checking out his own eyebrows to throw his arms around the newcomer, an act that caused Ino to shirk back in disgust. "Your youthfulness emanates from you, though not in the waves that it did before! Perhaps it is because you have grown older! This is most regretful, but I am sure that once we resume our friendship, your springtime of youth will bloom once…"

"Watch it, Bushy Brows," Ino interrupted quickly, dusting off the front of her dress and flipping her hair back. "You can look, but you sure as hell can't touch."

"I hope that doesn't go for all of us," Neji said seductively—if you can even try to imagine what that would look like—winking at Ino, who giggled and put her hand to her mouth.

"No pupils," Naruto whispered from behind Ino, who jumped about a foot into the air. "Just remember that when you're falling prey to his cool guy aura. No. Freaking. Pupils. That's just not natural."

"For the record, Ino doesn't have pupils either," Tenten said diplomatically. "Nor does Lee, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, or even Sasuke."

"Looks like you're in the minority, dumbass!" Kiba laughed triumphantly, and while he and Naruto immediately got into a match of insults that were so lame that no one else could possibly follow what they were saying, Lee began to speak with Tenten and Ino.

"So if you two are here…does that mean that…Sakura is here as well?"

No one missed the spark that leapt into Lee's eyes at the mention of Sakura, especially not Ino. And a certain Uchiha, who looked up at the sound of the three syllables before quickly resuming his position of not caring about anything.

"Come on, Lee," she said, sighing dramatically. "Don't you remember the agreement we came to all those years ago?"

"The, uh, the agreement?" Lee asked in a most unsure manner. "I don't recall this supposed agreement that you speak of…"

"Looks like your memory is fading with age, Lee," Sasuke deadpanned, staring up at Lee with no emotion as Lee burst into a rampage about his 'never-failing springtime of youth.' Sasuke held up his hand casually. "All right, all right," he said. "Maybe this will remind you of the agreement…"

_Flashback…_

_Konoha Academy had gone wild._

_There was truly no other way to say it. Though Iruka-sensei had tried his best to maintain order over his classroom of 11-year olds, there was no possible way to do it. The girls were crying and screaming at one another, hair being pulled and skirts being torn. The males were in all out brawls, tackling one another to the ground and going for the throat…_

"That explains absolutely nothing, Sasuke," Naruto said solemnly, having somehow defeated Kiba in their insult war. Said dog-boy was sulking in a corner, muttering animatedly to Akamaru and throwing dirty looks at the blonde. "You just like it when people are being violent, anyways. Allow me to take over…"

_Flashback…_

_As the small, prepubescent boys wrestled each other to the ground, Orochimaru watched ravenously, his eyes containing a manic glint that only the underage could bring._

"_Yes," he said softly. "That's how you do it. Don't stop, you small, prepubescent boys. Crawl upon one another, like the beautiful snakes that you are! That is the way!"_

_"Orochimaru?" Iruka-sensei asked, coming up behind the man with confusion wrought onto his features. "What are you…OROCHIMARU? WHAT IS THIS? WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT VIDEO CAMERA? WHY IS IT POINTED AT ALL THOSE SMALL CHILDREN? AND WHY ARE THERE ALREADY THREE HOURS OF FOOTAGE OF SASUKE PLAYING WITH…"_

"And, this is going nowhere," Ino said derisively as Sasuke threw his fist into the side of Naruto's head. "Obviously, I'm going to have to explain this…"

_The last flashback. We hope…_

_Iruka-sensei's class was sitting quietly, stunned at the display of rage that had been released from the normally temperate man. He spoke very slowly now, devoid of the usual cheerfulness that defined him._

"_Now," he said calmly, though his tone radiated anger. "Will someone tell me why everyone in this class seems to hate one another? We had a melee on our hands! This is absolutely unacceptable for young boys and girls, and I demand a reason behind this behavior!"_

_Ino raised her hand slowly, fingers trembling. "I can tell you, Iruka-sensei."_

_Iruka nodded his head, motioning for her to go on._

_Ino took a deep breath before she began. "It all started out when Sakura and I decided we both liked Sasuke." She blushed slightly at this statement. "Of course, most of the girls in the class like him, but Sakura and I declared an all-out rivalry. Then, Lee challenged Sasuke for a duel to Sakura's heart, which Naruto had to get in on, which made Hinata have to join, so then Neji got angry, and then Tenten had to be there for him, and then somehow the whole class had to get involved, and…it just sort of erupted from there."_

_Tears filled Ino's eyes. "I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei! This whole thing is my fault! If we had all just controlled our feelings a little bit better…"_

_Iruka-sensei softened a bit. "It's all right, Ino," he said gently. "The important thing for all of you to remember…" He turned to the entire class as he said this. "…is that love is not to be trifled with. It's a serious thing, and it isn't for people as young as you. It's only when you're mature enough to handle love that it won't tear you apart. Understood?"_

_"Yes, Iruka-sensei."_

* * *

_Twelve children sat underneath the oak tree beside the school in a complete circle, eying one another rather seriously. Ino began._

"_Today was absolutely crazy, guys," Ino said steadily. "It can't happen again. You heard what Iruka-sensei said, right?"_

_All of them nodded._

"_Well, we should make an agreement, then," she stated theatrically. "That none of us will be romantically involved with each other until we're old enough to get it!"_

"_And when, exactly, would that be?" Neji asked, practical as ever._

"_Um…well…I know my older sister gets love. She loves a lot of people. At the same time, so she tells me. And she's a senior in high school."_

_Everyone let out a breath of astonishment._

_"So that's when we'll wait until?" Sakura asked, not being able to help the flicker of her eyes to Sasuke, who was, surprisingly enough, watching her, too. She blushed deeply and moved her eyes back to Ino's before she could see his reaction._

_Ino nodded her head firmly in response to Sakura's question. "We all gotta agree to it!" she said, sticking her hand into the middle of the circle. And so, one by one, each child sitting in the twelve-person circle stuck their hand in the center, each agreeing to the terms; there would be no dating amongst the twelve until they were seniors in high school…_

"Ah, yes, of course!" Lee cried out. "The agreement, the agreement! Of course I can not forget! It was the day that I promised myself I would wait until I was a senior in high school to woo the beautiful flower that is Sakura Haruno! If I was able to wait five years, then I think I shall be able to wait one more!"

"What'd I miss?" Naruto asked groggily, rubbing his head where Sasuke had forcibly knocked him out. "Was it anything important that may eventually affect the lives and future happiness of the people I hold most dear to my heart?"

"Nah, just some spiel about love, or something," Shikamaru intoned, eyes closed, hands behind his head. "No use thinking about love. Love requires women. And women are always troublesome."

"I missed a love spiel?" Naruto yelled frantically. "But that's my favorite kind of spiel! Ah man, I remember back in the day, I twisted the best love spiel ever for Gaara…the only one that was better was the one I made for Sasuke!"

"Wait a second…" Kiba stated, done with his muttering to Akamaru. "Was that a…did you just admit you were in love with Sasuke?"

"And, I'm leaving," Sasuke said, shooting Kiba a death glare before slinking down the hallway, hands in his pockets and eyes in a mutual state of irritation.

"That wasn't a denial!" Kiba called loudly. "Oy, Naruto, isn't it also true that Sasuke was your first kiss? Oh damn, Akamaru, this is getting way too cute!"

"WHAT?" Naruto blustered. "WE NEVER…I MEAN, WE DID, BUT…IT WASN'T LIKE THAT! IT WAS JUST A PECK ANYWAYS…IT DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING!"

Kiba roared with laughter as Ino called out quickly, "Sasuke, don't you want to stay?"

Sasuke stopped, still not turning around. He really did look good, Ino had to admit, staring at the hard definition of his muscles and the strange flip of his hair. The fact that he acted so _above_ the rest of them was a bit irritating, but it didn't stop him from looking pretty damn sexy while doing it…

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Well, you know, Sakura's going to be dropping by soon," Ino stated, not hiding the glee that entered her voice. "If I remember correctly, she is very, _very_ excited to see you…"

"Hn."

And with that, Sasuke continued down the hall, ignoring the pouts that came from Ino and the yells that could only be coming from the idiot he was forced to call his best friend. He shook his head in irritation, frowning at the floor. All he ever asked for was an intelligent conversation. That was it. And yet, the only person he was given was Ino Yamanaka, of all people. Honestly, the term "dumb blonde" came about for a reason…and here he thought he might actually grow to enjoy the company of Neji Hyuuga and Shikamaru Nara, before he realized Neji was a closet pervert (a category that most of his friends seemed to end up in) and Nara was too busy sleeping to do much of anything else.

He grunted again. Once upon a time the Uchiha had known a girl who could keep him entertained without having to make a fool of herself (unlike that dobe, Naruto). Though somehow, she ended up making a fool out of herself, anyways…

Still lost in his thoughts, unaware of where exactly he was going, he didn't notice that a girl, face covered by papers and a large backpack slung over her shoulder, was walking straight into his path.

Not until they collided head-on, at least.

**UGHH. I'm sorry guys! I know it's just been conversation after pointless conversation, but I wanted to establish a good rapport between all the characters to kinda show how everyone fits in.**

**Although I gotta admit, my version of Neji is starting to seriously creep me out. I honestly have no idea what he's doing anymore. OH WELL. Let's just hope he doesn't go after Ino, because I feel as though a certain bun-wielding she-man will NOT be happy.**

**Some serious Sasuke/Sakura action in the next chapter. GET READY, LADIES AND GENTS! **

**Oh, and I totally did NOT mean to insult any blonde people with that statement Sasuke made. It just seems like the kind of thing he would think, especially when he's dealing with people like Ino and Naruto all day long…=)**

**As always, please review! Anything would be helpful, especially constructive criticism. Or positive feedback. Whichever you prefer, really. HEHEHE. **

**-Leah**


	3. Collision

**Hmmdeehmm. I should tell you guys, updates like this probably aren't going to happen very much anymore. I had the last two days off, so I had time to do some serious story-cranking, but now I have to go back to work. DAMN YOU, SUMMER JOBS!**

**And I have to start my summer homework…but don't worry, that's not going to happen for a good long while =)**

**Er, I still don't own Naruto. Tragedies, tragedies. The only thing I do own is this ridiculous plot line and the incredibly creepy personality that is Neji…*shudders***

_Still lost in his thoughts, unaware of where exactly he was going, Sasuke didn't notice that a girl, face covered by papers and a large backpack slung over her shoulder, was walking straight in his path._

_Not until they collided head-on, at least…_

Sakura Haruno was not having a good day.

She usually loved the first day of school. She loved seeing new faces, how much old friends changed, and of course, getting back into the normal hum of grades and schoolwork. Her element. She'd been looking forward to the day school resumed since summer began.

But of course, now that the day had finally come, she had woken up late, forgotten to do her laundry the last night, and had no time to fix her hair.

So here she was, stumbling down the hallways with a pile of books in her backpack and papers crowding her field of vision, clad in a baggy pair of jeans that looked like they belonged to her dad and a t-shirt that did _nothing_to accentuate her curves. Not that she really had curves anyways, but…still!

Worst of all, today was the day, the day that she would be going back to school with the male species. Looking like this, she was doing her best to hide her face, though she was cursing her bob of pink hair for attracting the attention that it did as she stormed down the hallway.

"_Well, there's no way I'm meeting up with Ino this morning," _she thought, letting out a quiet breath of relief. Ino had been squealing for the entire summer about going back to co-ed school. The two single-sex years had been torture on her boy-crazy best friend, and she knew exactly which guys Ino would have chased down by now:

The Konoha 7. Plus…him. Sakura shivered slightly. She hadn't seen Sasuke Uchiha in two years; going to different schools meant that the boys and the girls in their original 12-person group had split off, forming their own circles of friends. She hadn't hung out with Sasuke, or really any of the guys, since they were still in Konoha Academy.

There was no way she could let Sasuke see her like this. She wanted his first impression of her to be something along the lines of, "_Wow, when did I become so attracted to pink hair?"_

She did not want it to be, "_Wow, when did Sakura decide to become a cross-dresser?"_

Sakura let out a huff. Not that Sasuke seemed to care about looks anyways. He didn't care about girls at all. There were some days that she seriously had to wonder…

Still lost in her thoughts, unaware of where exactly she was going, she didn't notice that a boy, head tilted down and hands stuffed in his pockets, was walking straight in her path.

Not until they collided head-on, at least.

Sakura's papers scattered to the floor, flying in a chaotic mess across the hallway. Her arms, which had been in front of her as she held the papers, clung for a moment to the muscular chest of the person in front of her. The force of said person and the uneven weight of her backpack on her shoulders caused her to fly backwards, landing with a harsh thud right in the middle of the hallway.

The hushed chuckles ushered all around the hallway, and Sakura gave a dirty look to each person who was staring before she turned upwards to face the idiot who had the indecency to run into her.

"WOULD YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, NUMBSKULL?" she screamed, balling up her fists in anger. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? NOW I HAVE TO PICK UP ALL THESE DAMN PAPERS AND YOU'RE JUST STANDING THERE LIKE NOTHING EVEN …"

Sakura suddenly trailed off as her eyes began their ascent, from the black Nike sneakers to the pale skin of his calves, up to the low-hanging waist of his khaki shorts, from the lean muscles that couldn't quite be masked by the long-sleeved navy-blue t-shirt he was wearing to the tightened cords in his neck, until they landed on his face, where a strong jaw and lips jutted upwards in a smirk led to eyes, eyes that were so black that they nearly looked blue. His eyebrows were raised, and she couldn't help but notice the way his eyes traveled up and down her body as well. His smirk grew wider as he took in the preposterous outfit she was in, and Sakura could literally feel her cheeks flushing.

Ah, shit.

"S-S-Sasuke?" Sakura stammered, green eyes widening as they met with his. "Is that really you?"

Sasuke only shook his head, still smirking, as he bent down, gathering the papers she had thrown violently into the air when the two had collided…

"_Does that mean that just now, I was in a position of physical contact with Sasuke's…oh dear."_

Sakura turned even redder, if that was possible, and quickly scrambled to her knees, picking up any paper that was close to her. "When in doubt…" she muttered quietly to herself, going into a strange trance as she began to speak to the boy above her. "…always ramble."

"So, Sasuke, how've you been?" she buzzed off, going into auto-pilot as her mind began to come up with as many words as possible to say in one breath. "It's been years since we've seen each other, hasn't it? Oh, it's just so crazy, I remember back when we were kids, and we made that little agreement, and then we went to Konoha Middle School, and then for some reason we went to the first two years of high school and it wasn't co-ed! I've never understood that, I mean, it's not exactly a well thought-out system at all, in all honesty it's far too…Sasuke?"

But the Uchiha was already walking off, hands in his pockets, looking for all the world like the two, who had once been something close to friends, hadn't seen each other at all. Crestfallen, Sakura moved to pick up the rest of her papers before she realized that somehow, they were all in her hands. And she was still on her knees.

"Stupid boys," she groaned angrily, picking herself up onto her feet before leaning against a locker and sighing. So it would seem that even after two years away from him, she still had it bad for Sasuke Uchiha. Really, really bad. And the worst part was, because of the agreement, she couldn't do anything about it!

"Not that I would anyways!" she moaned to herself, still slumped against a locker. "He hates me already!" And unfortunately, Sakura knew why. Sasuke hated people who talked too much. So why exactly did she start rambling? She couldn't remember. The past few minutes had been a rather fragmented blur of lights and colors and sounds, and she wasn't really up to trying to decipher it.

"_He sure has grown up nicely," _Sakura couldn't help but think, blushing slightly at the thought of her arms pressed against his hard chest when they had collided for just a moment…and he had smiled, just a little bit, when he had seen her, hadn't he?

Sakura sighed, shaking her head. All she really knew was that this was going to be one hell of an interesting year.

* * *

"You know, I feel as though we're missing someone…" Naruto said thoughtfully, putting a finger to his chin and wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well, Sasuke just walked off, right now…

"No, no, it's someone much more interesting than Sasuke," Naruto replied, shaking his head. "Someone I feel like I haven't seen in a while…"

"Sakura hasn't shown up yet…"

"Not her either!" Naruto said, frustration lacing his tone as he continued to ponder. "It's someone we haven't talked about yet, someone who's always in the background. Sure, I'm almost positive this person doesn't have pupils, but they make it look _good._ The kind of person who rarely speaks up, though I am missing them like crazy right now all the same. Someone who I hold very dear to my heart…"

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes lit up. "There," he whispered, emotion overflowing as he began to stride towards the one he hadn't seen in so long, the one who only he could truly connect with, the one who he could almost say he loved. Picking up the pace, he began jogging, until he finally reached his target, whose back was facing towards him.

"GAARA!" Naruto shouted joyously, throwing his arms around the red-head, tears streaming down his face. "I can't believe it's really you! I haven't seen you in…well, it must have been a week by now! How've you been?"

Gaara turned around, a shocked expression on his face as he took in the close contact between himself and the hyperactive blonde. "Naruto…I must ask a favor of you."

"Yes, of course Gaara! Anything! Ask it and it shall be yours!"

"…get off of me."

"Ah, yes, of course," Naruto said quickly, releasing his hold on Gaara, who turned around to face one of his closest friends. "You're another one of those 'personal space issues' people, aren't you?"

Gaara stared.

"Right!" Naruto said cheerfully. "So how about I introduce you to the rest of the gang! I know you met Sasuke a while back, when you guys…well, you know. But we all got past that with extensive therapy. Anyways, you can meet everyone else now! I'm sure you'll love 'em!"

Gaara's eyes began to widen, nearly popping out of his sockets as he stared at the group of students behind Naruto. The veins in his forehead twitched dangerously and his voice became strained. "People…human beings…they're so close…their flesh…the urge to resist…it is too much…too much temptation…I must…"

"Now, Gaara," Naruto said sternly, arm slung around the boy's waist as the redhead's clawed hands swiped towards the crowd only a few feet away from him. "What did I tell you about that? You know people are uncomfortable when you do that to them."

Gaara calmed down a bit. "Yes. I nearly forgot. Perhaps I'll meet them another time, Naruto."

"That may be for the best," Naruto said seriously. Suddenly, he perked up. "Hey, where's good ol' Kankuro at? He's going to be a senior this year, right?"

Gaara nodded curtly. "Him and Temari, yes."

"Right, Temari! Your sister! I can't wait until we get to meet her," Naruto exclaimed.

"She's a senior, Naruto. She will not be having the same classes as you."

"Oh," Naruto said, dropping his head and sulking. "Bet the stupid teme and all the other freak geniuses over there will have classes with her…"

"It is a possibility," Gaara confirmed.

Naruto brightened for a moment as his bi-weekly idea came to him. "Hey Gaara, you know, you should throw a party or something!"

Gaara stared.

"Oh, don't give me that," Naruto reprimanded, putting his hand on the boy's shoulders. "It'll give you a good chance to get to meet everyone in a more…ah…comfortable setting, and I really want to meet your sister! Pleeeeease?"

Gaara continued to stare.

"All right!" Naruto cheered. "You're the best, Gaara! I'll see you on Friday, at 7, with the gang in tow. And a few other friends. Don't worry, I'll keep it small. Wear something pretty for me, kay?"

And Naruto, after giving Gaara the kind of wink that made 73% of Konoha High School question his sexuality, marched back to his friends, smiling proudly as they all turned their attention to him.

"Guess who just got us all invited to the Sabaku crib this Friday…oh my whippersnappers! Hinata, could that be you?"

"Um…um…h-hello, Naruto," Hinata murmured quietly, blushing vivid shades of red as she kept her eyes trained solely on her feet and refused to make eye contact. She hadn't even seen the blonde walk up to her friends, and she was pretty sure the only reason she hadn't already fainted was because she hadn't _actually_ come face-to-face with him, yet.

The pale-eyed girl had been in love with Naruto for what seemed to her to be all her life, and yet he had never noticed her attraction at all; she stammered hopelessly whenever she saw him and just about fainted at the slightest contact with him, but Naruto remained as clueless as ever.

It appeared that two years away from her dream-man had done no good. She had hoped that more years and a slightly improved confidence would grant her the ability to hold a stable conversation with Naruto, but apparently, the opposite occurred; two years away from him and she was no longer desensitized. His presence was even more intoxicating than it had been before.

And she hadn't even seen him yet! Hinata had been walking peacefully down the hallway when she heard Tenten and Ino call her name. Relieved at finding two of her three closest girl friends, she had shuffled over, saying warm hellos to Kiba and Shino and smiling shyly at Neji. She couldn't help the disappointment that crept into her thoughts when she noticed that Naruto was not amongst her friends, though seeing as Sasuke and Sakura were not present either, she had assumed the three were together.

She did _not_ assume that Naruto would saunter up before she even had time to prepare herself. _Nor_ did she assume that Naruto would sound so excited to see her. And she _especially_ did not assume that Naruto would toss an arm around her shoulder and pull her close to him, tilting her face up at the same time so he could get a good look at her.

But of course, all these things had to happen. And it was really a good thing that she blacked out when she did, because if she had made contact with those bright, blue eyes, or heard what he was saying about her, well, as it was, the sound of his voice was like a lullaby over loudspeakers, gently calming her until she drifted off to the land of the comatose…

"…beautiful, Hinata, seriously! You were such a little munchkin in grade school, but wow, age has clearly done good things for you! I especially love what you've been doing with your hair, growing it out of that weird slanted bowl cut thing…I mean, you were close to matching with LEE, and that's a situation that no amount of therapy could get you through…Hinata? Hinata, are you okay?"

Naruto paused in the middle of his monologue to assess the condition of the girl who was now slumped over in his arms, eyes fluttering and a stupid smile spreading across her face.

Naruto heard the sound of someone cracking their knuckles and looked up sheepishly as Neji approached him from his spot at the lockers, anger emanating from him and fists clenched in a rather menacing posture.

"Eight trigrams…" he said quietly. "…fist to the face!"

"_Why does he always have to say that?"_ Naruto pondered for a moment before Neji's curled-up hand flew straight into his temple. "_And why do I keep getting knocked out?"_

* * *

When Naruto finally came to, he heard Ino's excited squeals and the sound of the boys' greetings.

"Was goin' on?" he asked drowsily, pushing himself to a standing position. "Where am I?"

"Dobe," Sasuke muttered, leaning against a locker. He had apparently come back during the time Naruto was…preoccupied. "I'm gone for five minutes and you're already unconscious. Again."

"Just a pity there were other people around, eh, Sasuke?" Kiba grinned maliciously.

"I have no idea what you're trying to imply."

"Oh, hey, look, Sakura's here!" Ino said hurriedly, pushing the pink-haired girl towards Naruto. "Ah! Yay!"

"Sakura?" Naruto said in confusion, taking in the ratty appearance of the girl in front of him. He shook his head to clear his vision, and brightened when he saw that it was indeed his friend, though she was looking like she'd just run a marathon. In men's clothing. "Sakura! What took you so long?"

Sakura blushed, and her gaze flitted towards Sasuke for a moment. Naruto, who somehow managed to not miss this action, raised his eyebrows at his best friend, who merely rolled his eyes.

"I got a little held up," she admitted, letting out a loose giggle. "Sorry I'm late. It's so good to see you, Naruto!"

"Same to you, Sakura," Naruto said sincerely, though he was glancing rather suspiciously between Sasuke and Sakura, both of whom appeared to be doing their best to not make eye contact with him.

_"He just has to be perceptive today, doesn't he,"_ Sakura thought darkly to herself. Speaking aloud, she continued, "Well, I better get to AP Calculus, guys. I'm already running late and I don't want to make a bad first impression…I guess I'll be seeing you guys at that huge rave at Gaara's mansion?"

"Sure thing, nerd," Ino mocked, smiling as Sakura made her way towards her classroom. Sakura stuck her tongue out childishly before smiling back and waving to the rest of the group.

"Bye guys!" She had only taken one step towards the East Wing when she heard a voice behind her shoulder.

"Wait."

Sakura turned, hoping against hope that it wasn't his voice, or that he wasn't speaking to her at all, or some fantastic combination of the two.

But, of course, things never went the way Sakura wanted them to.

"Um, what's up, Sasuke?" Sakura said awkwardly, internally smacking herself for asking such a stupid question. Sasuke Uchiha didn't deal with useless words.

Sasuke grunted. "I have AP Calculus first bell, too. And you're going in the completely wrong direction."

Sakura's cheeks began to color as she heard the sniggers from Kiba and Naruto. "You all got a death wish, or something?" she asked dangerously, flexing her fingers as she stepped forward, and she immediately heard the laughter stop. "That's what I thought," she muttered under her breath.

She turned back towards Sasuke, who, to her immense chagrin, was watching her with a bemused expression on his face. Suddenly, he turned around and began walking down the other end of the hallway, towards the West Wing. He paused for a moment before he called out, not even bothering to face her.

"What, do you need an invitation?"

Sakura blushed again. What was with her today? She was normally never this slow.

Oh right. Sasuke. The man she was completely and hopelessly crazy about. The man who she had first bell with. The man who she was walking to first bell with. Alone.

Gulp.

The ten friends watched as Sakura jogged to catch up to Sasuke, and the two continued their trek towards AP Calculus, Sakura still trailing slightly behind Sasuke.

The first bell pierced through the hallways of Konoha High School, warning the students that there were five minutes left until classes would begin.

"Well, I'm off," Neji said importantly. "Can't be late to AP Chemistry, now can I? Guys…" he turned and gave the eternal head flip towards the group of males still left, who all responded in the same manner. He turned mischievously to the females. "…ladies…" he grinned, inclining his head. Hinata smiled back (she is his cousin, after all. Maybe she thinks his awful creepiness is endearing?), Ino giggled flirtatiously, and Tenten rolled her eyes.

"What a prick," she snorted under her breath. "I mean, who would ever find that attractive?"

"It's the lack of pupils, isn't it?" Naruto said solemnly, though his solemn voice was loud enough that the entire group could hear him. "People with no pupils are screwed up. Although…" And at this, he turned wickedly to Hinata, who immediately turned bright red. "…I'm starting to kind of dig it."

Noticing Hinata's terrified expression, Naruto burst into shameless laughter. "I'm just messing with you, Hinata! Goodness, you're adorable! By the way, I need to talk to you about something…" His eyes shifted furtively around the group, then in the direction of where Sasuke and Sakura disappeared. "…alone…"

"A-a-a-alone?" Hinata squeaked, but Naruto completely ignored her, pulling her in the direction of his first bell classroom, which happened to be in the exact opposite wing of Hinata's.

"See you guys!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs, still dragging a stammering Hinata down the hallways. "Gaara's party is going to be insane!"

"Tch," Shikamaru muttered, having just woken up from his nap. "Guess I've gotta be off, too. Considering I'll be sleeping through the entire class, I should at least try and show up on time to AP Physics…"

And with that, everyone began making their way to class, Ino, Tenten, Kiba and Shino towards the Art Wing and Choji and Lee towards the Physical Education Wing just as the bell marking the beginning of classes rang through the hallways.

The first day at Konoha High School had begun.

**Ugh. Finally, done! I am way too tired for this. *yawns* so, what'd you guys think? If you haven't noticed, the romance between Sasuke and Sakura will be a little more serious…I don't know, they are the main pairing, and honestly, humorous romance isn't very romantic. So there! Deal with that logic, punks!**

**Oh, and for future reference, everyone is a junior in this story, except for Temari and Kankuro, who are seniors. Yeah. I'm excited for Temari to enter this story. And why in the world is Naruto trying to get Hinata by herself? Other than the obvious reasons…;)**

**ALL WILL BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Review, my pretties! Or Neji will find you…**

**-Leah**


	4. Uncomfortable

**Heh. Hehe. Well. Nice to see you guys again! Not like it's been a while, or anything…**

**But honestly. You people are terrible. I'm gone for five days, and I come back to these fantastic reviews and story/author alerts, and I just…UGH. You guys are amazing. Definitely my motivation to keep going with this =)**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Naruto. Just a wide variety of inflatable sex toys. Because that's what I do on my Friday nights.**

Hinata wasn't feeling very comfortable.

She was sitting in first bell English, head sunk low in her seat, face still bright red from having had to walk into the classroom twenty-five minutes late. Every single pair of eyes had turned to watch as she shuffled across the front of the room, and unmasked chuckles followed her when Asuma-sensei gave her a calm reprimanding. She could still feel the stares on the back of her neck, most likely wondering why the goody-two-shoes of Konoha High had been late to the first class of the year.

Which brought her to the second reason why she was feeling uncomfortable.

"_N-N-N-Naruto!" Hinata managed to choke out, barely maintaining consciousness as the blonde tugged her forcefully down the hallway, hand clutching tightly to her wrist and an oddly determined expression on his face. "My c-classroom is in the other w-wing…I-I'm going to be l-l-late!"_

_Naruto stopped then, and the determined expression on his face changed to worry. "Oh man, I'm sorry Hinata," he said ruefully, pushing a hand through his hair. "I completely forgot! You have English with Asuma-sensei, don't you?"_

"_Y-y-yeah…" she replied. But looking at the evident concern on his face, concern that was meant for her of all people, she backtracked, quickly. "B-but that's okay! If you n-n-n-n-need my help, I don't m-m-m-mind!"_

_Naruto broke out into a wide grin, pulling Hinata into a bone-crushing hug. "YOU'RE THE BEST, HINATA!" he screamed gleefully into her ear. "I KNEW I COULD COUNT ON YOU! THAT'S WHY I PICKED YOU FOR THIS SUPER TOP-SECRET MISSION THAT I HAVE JUST NOW COME UP WITH THAT NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT BUT ME AND YOU."_

_Every single person who was within a 50-meter radius turned around to stare at Naruto with curiosity, and Naruto let out a squeaked "whoops!" before dragging Hinata (who had, miraculously enough, managed to not pass out) into the nearest private area. This was, of course, a janitor's closet._

"_Ah," Naruto said, his voice going deep and husky as he closed the door shut and darkness fell around the two, nearly masking the brooms and dustpans that littered the shelves and the floors. "Finally. Some privacy. Now we can get down to business, eh, Hinata?"_

_Hinata, who was still in the enclosed space that was Naruto's arms, proceeded to stammer helplessly as Naruto burst into rowdy laughter._

"_Still kidding, Hinata! Man, we have got to get you out of the house more often, don't we?" he bellowed, squeezing the said girl until she was turning red due to the proximity of her life-long crush…and the fact that she was quickly running out of oxygen. For not the first time that day. _

_Naruto released her suddenly and spun her around until the two pairs of eyes met, light blue and pale lavender, and a serious note permeated the air between them._

"_Listen, Hinata," Naruto said, voice dropping to a whisper for the first time all day. "You remember the agreement all twelve of us made when we were in grade school, right? The one where we're not allowed to date?"_

_Hinata nodded her head, alert to the tension in Naruto's shoulders. "I r-remember."_

"_Well," Naruto continued. "I'm starting to think that the agreement we made back then isn't exactly in the best interests of, ah…certain members…of the twelve anymore. If you catch what I'm saying?" His eyes widened meaningfully, and he cocked his head to the side, as though waiting for Hinata's response._

_And Hinata's response probably would have been cardiac arrest had not Naruto continued, taking her exaggerated gasping and heaving chest as signs that she understood exactly what he was talking about._

"_Right," Naruto affirmed, business-like for a moment. "Sasuke and Sakura definitely have something going on. I mean, did you see them today? Acting like Japanese schoolgirls…anyways, as I am the best friend of the teme himself, and you and Sakura are close personal acquaintances, we've got to do everything we can to help them!" _

_Hinata couldn't help the breath of relief mingling with disappointment that left her mouth at Naruto's words. Getting Sasuke and Sakura together? Of course. Naruto was just that kind of guy, the kind of guy who would get involved in anything if it meant helping out his friends. She only wished that he had been talking about…_

"_Hinata, are you all right?" Naruto asked, carefully examining the girl's face. "You look a little…sad. Do you hate the plan?" His face fell, and Hinata's eyes widened at the disheartened expression on his face._

"_N-n-no, Naruto!" she said quickly. "I l-l-love the plan! I just think that m-m-maybe we should t-t-try getting a-a-all our friends together! L-l-l-like, did you s-see Neji and Tenten? They are t-t-totally perfect together!"_

"_YOU CAUGHT THAT TOO?" Naruto yelped gleefully. "MAN, I KNOW, RIGHT? Sure, Neji was all into Ino, and Tenten seemed like she wanted to castrate Neji, but it was impossible to hide the hidden chemistry between those two! Anyways, they used to be best friends in grade school, so it's PERFECT!"_

"A-a-and we should find s-s-someone f-for the o-other boys, too, i-i-if we c-can…"

"_YES!" Naruto cheered, and unfortunately (or really fortunately, depending on how you look at it) for Hinata, he pulled her in for a congratulatory bear hug. "Hinata, you're a genius! I knew you were the right one to ask about all this! We won't just hook up Sasuke and Sakura; we'll hook up EVERYONE!"_

_Naruto continued on, pulling back to look Hinata in the eye. "You do realize, we're going to be spending a lot of time together, don't you, Hinata? In fact, why don't you come over to my house after school? We're going to have a lot to talk about…"_

And that was that. Naruto had spun her most ungracefully out of the janitor's closet, pulling her in for one last goodbye-hug before racing off to Biology. He was a very touchy-feely type person, as far as it went.

Not that Hinata was complaining.

She glanced at the clock out of the corner of her eye as Asuma-sensei droned on about the finer intricacies of poetry. 9:07. Only five hours and twenty-three minutes until she would be inside of Naruto's house. Maybe he'd even invite her into his bedroom…

And Hinata turned a ferocious shade of red all over again.

* * *

On an entirely unrelated note…

Sakura wasn't feeling very comfortable.

Sure, the prospects of walking next to THE Sasuke Uchiha for an estimated three minutes on the way to class sounded like a good idea, but the actual thing? It wasn't so hot.

Actually, it was incredibly hot. Though he seemed for all the world to be slouching down the hallway at the perfect cool guy pace, Sasuke's strides were long, and it took a great deal of Sakura's energy to keep up with him. Considering the fact she was already slightly sweaty from having crashed into Sasuke earlier, she was starting to feel a little winded. So of course, that's what she used to try and start a conversation.

Because that was another thing. Sasuke Uchiha refused to be the first one to talk. Ever.

"Wow, Sasuke," Sakura began nervously. "You sure do walk fast. Must be all those sports, right?"

Sasuke grunted. Sakura sighed. Looked like a more direct line of questioning was necessary. She went for a question she'd been honestly wondering about ever since she heard Sasuke was an all-star athlete.

"Which one is your favorite?"

Sasuke slowed for a moment before continuing at the pace he was going before. How did he manage to look like he was walking so slowly when he actually sped through the halls all the time? It must have been another one of his cool guy tricks. Like how his hair managed to stick out at perfect points, or how he could literally do nothing but grunt and everyone would say he was the most fascinating conversationalist they'd ever met. Sakura could never hope to understand the intensity of such a…

"Cross country."

This time, it was Sakura who slowed down, and oddly enough, Sasuke slowed down with her, eying her warily. Sakura stared at him in response.

"Really?" she asked, confused. "Cross country? I would've thought it was football…"

Sasuke shook his head, scowling. "I hate that sport."

Sakura was gaping by this time. "But how can you hate it? You're one of the best running backs we've ever had!"

"Yeah, running's fine," Sasuke answered, still frowning. "I hate the rest of it."

"Oh."

They continued onwards in silence until they reached the AP Calculus classroom. Just before the two walked in, however, Sakura put her hand on Sasuke's arm. Though he flinched, he didn't pull away, and Sakura took that as a good sign.

"For the record," she said, quietly. "I hate football, too."

And for a moment, Sasuke broke out into a smile, a real smile. One that lit up his whole face, causing the onyx eyes that were usually cold and distant to glow with a child-like warmth, one that caused his posture to teeter until he was no longer slouching, the kind of genuine expression of happiness that Sakura hadn't managed to glimpse on Sasuke's face in years.

Sakura felt warmth running through her body, pride that it was she who elicited such an expression from the unmovable Sasuke Uchiha, that she was the one who could make him happy. _"Hell yeah I can make him happy!" _Sakura's more aggressive side cheered on their behalf. "_Happier than all those other bitches combined! Oh yeah! Take that, stupid drug-infested Karin and Ami! Yeah! Nothing can bring me down right…"_

"Why'd you come to football games?"

Sakura's blissful train of thoughts screeched to a halt, veering around a corner before tumbling off the tracks and exploding violently in her head.

Ah, shit.

"Er, what do you mean?" Sakura asked, feigning cluelessness while belatedly realizing that during the time she was having an internal monologue, both Sasuke and herself had found their way into the classroom and sat down. And Sasuke had asked her a question she was not entirely willing to answer.

"You used to come to every single football game, when we all went to school together. All of them. Even the away games. Why?"

Sakura groaned to herself. She, of course, remembered _exactly_ why she had endured the pain that was watching football games in grade school, and the reason was sitting right next to her, watching her intently, eyebrows furrowed as he awaited her answer.

"Oh, right!" Sakura answered cheerfully, preparing the lie on her teeth. "Well, Naruto was quarterback and you were running back, so of course I had to come to support you guys! What else are friends for?"

Sasuke's eyebrows were still furrowed when he replied, much to Sakura's displeasure. "But we didn't even talk after I started football. And didn't you hate Naruto?"

Sakura had to resist the urge to punch a wall. Honestly, it wasn't fair. Why did he have to be so damn intelligent?

It was only then that her own mental prowess picked up on something Sasuke had said.

Sakura smirked cockily, Sasuke style, hoping it would throw him off and he wouldn't realize just how bad she used to crush on him. How bad she still crushed on him, as a matter of fact. "Now, how did you know that I came to all the football games, hm?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Sakura. Your hair is pink."

Sakura opened her mouth to respond before realizing she had nothing to say. Muttering under her breath, she fished around for a change in conversation, hoping to avoid making eye contact with Sasuke.

"So," she said, a little more loudly than necessary. "You going to Gaara's party?"

Sasuke grimaced, the calm expression on his face gone. "No."

And Sakura was smacking herself again. How did she always manage to make him so irritated? And things had been going so well! She almost felt like she had been talking to a friend, like how it used to be between them so long ago…

Sakura tried not to let disappointment drip through her question. "Why not?"

"Parties are useless," Sasuke murmured absently, leaning against his seat and cocking his head to the side to look Sakura in the eye. "I have no time for them."

Sakura huffed. "Well sure, they're useless, but you have to come!"

"Give me one good reason," Sasuke said, and Sakura didn't miss the challenge in his voice.

"Well…" Sakura struggled for a moment, managing her thoughts. This was going to have to be good. "First of all, it's going to be at Gaara's place, and I really think you should see him, considering that things are still weird between you guys after that little incident when he…well, I'm sure you remember. And honestly, all of the other guys are going to be completely wasted on alcohol, so none of them will be any fun to hang around with. Ino will be spending all her time flirting with said guys, and that's just not how I want my Friday night to go. Something tells me that Hinata will be attached to Naruto, considering the way those two ran off earlier…you think something's going on between them? And don't even get me started on what Tenten is like at parties, she really knows how to…"

"In short," Sasuke interrupted lazily. "I should be there to keep you company. Is that what you're saying?"

Sakura blushed. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all! I'm saying you should come so you can…hang out. With lots of other people. And me, too. I guess I'll be there. So we can hang out…and we can hang out with all the other people, too. If you want," she finished lamely, dropping her head. _"Boys,"_ she thought to herself wearily. She just had to wonder if Sasuke was even worth all the dignity she spent on him. Honestly. She had only been in his company for twenty minutes and she was already in this state? He must think she was so pathetic. Why would a guy like Sasuke Uchiha ever go to a party just because she asked him to? He probably got asked to parties all the time, by girls who were far more attractive than she was, and he would never consider being interested in her, so why was she even…

"I'll go."

Sakura looked up in astonishment. Sasuke's head was turned in the direction of the window, so she couldn't see his expression, but the smile splitting her face was enough for the both of them.

"You mean it?" she asked excitedly, trying not to squeal. People who squealed were annoying, and that was one thing both she and Sasuke Uchiha could agree on. "You'll be at Gaara's party? Because that would make things so much better! I mean, for everyone, of course, not just me, I'm sure everyone will be excited to see…"

"Sakura."

"Yeah, Sasuke?"

"You're annoying."

Sakura slumped down in her seat, resisting the urge to cry out in agony. Was it her goal to make him take back his promise to go to the party? And why couldn't she keep her stupid mouth shut?

Though she knew she should let it go, she couldn't help but whisper, quite meekly, "Um, Sasuke…are you…I mean…you're still coming, right?" She said the last part in one quick breath, and was mortified by the desperation that laced her tone.

Sasuke's head was tilted downwards, staring at the floor carelessly, and Sakura bit her lip when Sasuke's eyes drifted upwards, a smirk gracing his features. And she knew what his answer would be.

"Yeah. I'll be there."

* * *

The sound of snores began to fill the AP Physics classroom, and Temari was grinding her teeth like there was no tomorrow. If the idiotic junior behind her didn't shut the hell up in the next ten seconds, she was going to make him. Forcefully. Temari happened to know a wide variety of ways to quiet down a male, most of them involving some form of castration, and she wouldn't hesitate to use them. Honestly, why they allowed immature juniors to take senior-level classes…it was absurd.

"10…" she counted under her breath, swiveling around as she did so. "9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…"

"Hey, lazy-ass!" she hissed harshly, causing the boy behind her to wake up with a start. "Quit it with the snoring! Some of us actually care about graduating!"

Shikamaru, because it was indeed him, sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I would ignore you, but you seem to be a little more trouble than you're worth."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Temari yelled out suddenly, and the entire class turned to look at her. Temari glared angrily at each and every one of them until they turned away, hiding their smiles.

"Temari, please save your flirting for your own time," Kurenai-sensei said knowingly.

"What?" Temari shouted, outraged. "I was not flirting with that pineapple-head! I was just telling him to shut up so I could pay attention! This is HIS FAULT!"

"Yes, yes, of course," Kurenai-sensei said, smiling, watching as Shikamaru's eyes began to close and his head drooped onto the desk. "In which case, you can save your lectures to Shikamaru for outside my class. Better?"

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei," Temari muttered before turning back to Shikamaru, who was…

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! YOU'RE ASLEEP? AGAIN? NOT ON MY WATCH, BUDDY!"

Kurenai-sensei grinned evilly. "Detention. For the both of you. I look forward to seeing you two together after class, all right?"

"PINEAPPLE-HEAD, I'M GOING TO CASTRATE YOU."

And said pineapple-head probably would have responded with a "Tch, troublesome", except for the simple fact that he wasn't awake.

"YOU'RE SERIOUSLY ASLEEP? AFTER ALL THIS?"

It was a rather repetitive day for the AP Physics students.

* * *

Neji was staring rather guiltily at the two buns in front of him. It had been two years since he had seen Tenten. They and Lee were all old for their grade, an oddity that had allowed the three to bond and become close friends. He and Lee had missed Tenten greatly the first two years of high school, though slowly they had all lost contact with one another…

Until today. He hadn't meant to completely ignore her like he did. He was just a little blown away by Ino. All right, so his hormones had been jumping up and down with glee at the first sight of a pretty girl in ages, but he wasn't about to say that at loud. It was the kind of thing Kiba would pounce on in a moment, and Neji would never be able to live it down. Ever. Because for some reason, Kiba was even more sex-crazed than he was. And that was saying something.

If Neji was being honest, though, he wasn't very impressed by his first look at Tenten. She was still wearing her hair in the classic two buns, still dressed in the baggy sweatpants and sweatshirts that were hand-me-downs from her older brother. She looked like the exact same little girl she had been when the two had met.

Still, that was no reason to ignore her like he'd done. There was, after all, a time when Neji would have called Tenten his closest friend, which might seem strange to some people, but Neji always thought about the choices. It was either Tenten as his best friend…or Lee. And though Neji was a serious athlete, taking his state swimming records rather proudly, even he didn't feel up to the 100 laps around the school that Lee did with the creepy gym teacher every morning.

"_Any day now,"_ Neji thought to himself grimly. _"Lee will finally admit that he's having an affair with that guy. And if I were his best friend, I'd actually have to care."_

Neji shuddered. That was exactly why he decided to focus his thoughts on Tenten. He tapped her shoulder lightly and she turned around, one eyebrow raised as she took in the figure behind her.

"What, Neji?" she asked roughly. Neji blinked. That wasn't quite the reaction he was hoping for. Recovering quickly, he replied,

"Just wanted to say hi, is all. I haven't seen you in a while. It's good to be back in co-ed classes with everyone else, wouldn't you say?"

Tenten let out a disgusted snort. "Go to hell, you bastard."

"_Hah,"_ Neji thought, looking pleased. _"I've still got it."_

**Oh, Neji. You poor, clueless soul, you. I almost pity him…and then I remember how much of a horny freak he is. And then I stop pitying him =)**

**Ack, this sucker took me forever! I took like six million breaks in between...clearly, you can see how much focus I have. Impressed, aren't you? It's okay. You can say it.**

**So I have a question…have any of you heard about that new Naruto movie that's coming out, like, Road to Ninja, or something? I don't know why, but I'm seriously excited for it. Like, in a jumping-up-and-down-screaming-my-head-off-until-July-28th kind of way. Is that embarrassing? Let's go with no.**

**I'm just warning you, the next chapter won't be as long. But, I'm also about to post it in, like, an hour. So that should hold you guys off for a bit, right? RIGHT? Good!**

…**do any of you even read these? Because if you don't, I'll feel extremely lame =D**

**-Leah**


	5. Preparations

**HA-HEY! It feels redundant to write an obnoxiously long author's note, seeing as I just posted about twelve hours ago…BUT I'M GOING TO DO IT ANYWAYS!**

**Hah. You guys didn't think you'd get out of my endless ramble that easily, didya? Didya didya didya?**

**So I have a legitimate question for all of you…let's say that hypothetically, Naruto managed to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, and you know, Sasuke did something heroic so everyone accepts Sasuke and yadda yadda yadda. How exactly do you think Sasuke and Sakura would fall in love? Because I'm honestly curious about a Sasuke returning to Konoha story where he falls in love with Sakura…and hell, I may even write one, so don't tell me your idea if it's really REALLY good =)**

**ERM, to the guest reviewers…well, there was this one review that I got on my email, but maybe it's hidden from the list of reviews for reasons unknown to me? I'm not sure. Anyways, if that guest is still floating around, here's a response to your review: I'm sorry you feel that way about the plot and the characterization. I didn't want to give anyone a headache! Hahaha but I appreciate that stuff you said about my grammar. I pride myself on my grammar. LOL. Yes. Grammar, forever.**

**Other guest reviews: Yes, you will indeed see what's going to happen next! Right in this chapter right here! So please, do read on!**

**And, other guest review: Oh my, consistent slapstick with Sasuke and Sakura? That would be embarrassing and awkward for everyone. I would never! And oh my goodness, it's like you read my mind. I was plotting several love triangles, but don't worry, none of them are for the two main couples! At least not any SERIOUS love triangles, at any rate…thanks for the suggestion!**

**Okay, I'm done now. Onwards.**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto. But if I did, I would NOT have killed off Itachi. TWICE. I mean, come on. That was just plain old depressing, ne?**

As it would be, the day progressed rather smoothly after first bell. The students of Konoha High meandered throughout their various classes until the time came when they all joined together: lunch.

"KONOHA 11 PLUS SASUKE: UNITE!"

"Seriously, Naruto. We were just talking about our first day of classes. That wasn't necessary at all."

"It's always necessary, Neji," Naruto said, nodding his head wisely. "Especially since this is the first time we've all been together in two years!"

"Naruto, we were all together this morning," Sakura said tiredly, fiddling around with the fruit salad the cafeteria had served that day. "And why can't we just be the Konoha 12?"

"Well, you see," Naruto began. "I happen to be terrified of numbers that aren't even, and seeing as twelve isn't an even number but eleven is…"

Naruto continued on his number spiel, and Sakura turned in confusion to Sasuke, who grunted and shook his head.

"You don't want to know."

"Hey, Sakura," Ino said suddenly, grabbing the girl's arm. "I need to go to the bathroom. Come with me?"

Sakura nodded, confused. Ino made it a point to _never_ go to the bathroom when there were males around to be seduced. It was a waste of her precious time, or so she said. Which meant that Ino had something very important to talk about…

The two girls trailed away from the rest of the group, leaving Naruto to continue blathering on about who knew what while everyone whose name wasn't Hinata completely ignored him.

Ino pulled Sakura into the girls' bathroom, pushing the door open and giving an evil eye to the group of girls who were already in there, sending them scurrying.

"Jeez, Ino!" Sakura laughed, putting her hands against one of the sinks and turning her back from the mirror. She did _not_ want to see just how terrible she looked today. "Feisty, much?"

"You know me," Ino replied, smirking as she gazed at her reflection before pointedly turning towards Sakura. "Anyways, I'm not the one crawling all over Uchiha!"

Sakura gaped. "What do you mean, crawling all over him? I was not crawling all over him at all! I asked him one question!"

Ino continued, voice turning into a squeal as she ignored the cries of denial from her friend. "And he was totally into you, too! Did you hear the way his voice changed when he talked to you?"

Sakura stared. "Ino. He said five words to me in the span of a half hour lunch. I wouldn't call that 'into me.'"

"You're sooo hopeless, Sakura," Ino sighed. "He doesn't even look at most girls! The fact that you can actually get him to talk means something!"

"Ino, that doesn't even make sense. Why would he be interested in me when he could have any girl in this school?"

"Because you're hot," Ino said shortly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "No duh. Even when you look like crap, you're still hot."

"Ino, I think you're starting to…"

"I bet he's good in bed," Ino cackled, a positively wicked smile stretching across her features. "Ooh, Sakura, you'll have to tell me all about it! Those Uchihas aren't called lions for no reason…and you'll get to be his kitty cat for the night, mm?"

"OH INO, THAT'S DISGUSTING!"

"I heard Sasuke has some kind of a cat fetish, actually," Ino mused, putting a finger to her chin. "Oh ew, I bet he'd dress you up in weird cat costumes! And he'd make you meow and all that creepy stuff! Although I bet you'd be mewling on your own at that point…"

Sakura was glaring at Ino, her face turning multiple shades of red. "Ino, I swear, if you don't quit it right now…"

"All right, all right," Ino said, laughing. "I'm just saying, it's only been a day and the two of you are already about to do the dance with no…"

Ino's eyes suddenly widened. "Bitch alert!" she hissed, dragging Sakura into one of the bathroom stalls and leaving the door just the tiniest bit open. Sakura hadn't been facing the door, and therefore had no idea what was going on, but Ino's eyes were narrowed, her fingers digging painfully into Sakura's arm.

"Who is it?" Sakura whispered, seeing the expression on her best friend's face. But Ino didn't have to answer, because soon enough, Sakura heard the voice of two senior girls that were quite familiar to her…"

"Are you sure no one's around, Karin?"

"Yeah, yeah, I checked. There's no one in here."

"Good. So you heard that Sasuke's going to Gaara's party, right?"

"Yeah. I wonder who got him to go? He usually hates this kind of thing…"

"Does it matter? We can sneak the goods right to him at Gaara's party, and no one will ever know! It's perfect!"

"You really think we should do it, Ami? I mean, isn't this borderline illegal?"

"Karin, do you want Sasuke to love you forever?"

"OF COURSE I WANT SASUKE TO MAKE LOVE TO ME FOREVER."

"…um, right. Anyways, we need to do this as soon as possible! Gaara's party is perfect because drinks are going to be everywhere. We can slip it in without him knowing, and then Sasuke will be ours for good!"

"You're right! I don't know what I was thinking, Ami!"

"Really, Karin. Leave the thinking to me, okay?"

"All right, Ami! You're the best!"

"Hm. I know. Now let's get back to Tayuya and Kin, before they start wondering where we are."

Sakura and Ino held their breaths until the sound of giggling finally vanished, and the bathroom door flew shut with a resounding _thump._ Sakura and Ino stared at each other, eyes wide.

"Ino…" Sakura said slowly, breaking the silence. "You don't really think they mean to…"

"Well what do you think, Billboard-Brow?" Ino asked nervously. "They were talking about putting something in his drink! Something that will make him theirs forever! What else could they be talking about?"

Sakura shook her head fervently. "Ami and Karin are insane, but they aren't that crazy, are they?"

The two girls exchanged a look.

"We can't let Sasuke drink at that party," they said simultaneously. And nodding their heads in synchrony, the two walked out of the cramped bathroom stall, wondering what in the world they'd gotten themselves into.

* * *

Temari and Shikamaru were sitting next to each other at the front of the room. Not that they had chosen to take those seats, but Kurenai-sensei had been adamant. "A punishment is a punishment, after all!" she had said cheerfully.

Temari could tell, the woman was getting way too much enjoyment out of this.

And so the two of them sat, side by side, Shikamaru wide-awake and Temari dead-silent. Neither of the two was very pleased with their predicament.

"Well, I'll just be out for a moment," Kurenai-sensei said after about twenty minutes, getting up from her desk. "Don't forget, detention will last another forty minutes. I fully expect both of you to stay the entire time. And do try not to kill each other when I'm gone, all right?"

"No promises," Temari muttered under her breath. After all, it was the stupid junior's fault she was in this mess in the first place! Kankuro had gotten such a kick out of it when she told him why she'd be late coming home, the bastard…

"She's probably going to go make out with Asuma-sensei."

Temari turned her head, eyes wide. She had expected Shikamaru to be asleep by this time (not that she would have let him remain in that state for very long), but instead, he was trying to strike up a conversation?

"Are you…are you actually being civil towards me?" Temari asked, cocking her head in confusion.

Shikamaru grinned, shaking his head. "I'm not the one who was making threats of castration, now was I?"

Temari stiffened. Then she smiled back. "Sorry about that. I tend to…overreact, sometimes. But honestly," she added, glaring at Shikamaru. "If you ever land me in detention again, it is going to happen. Mark my word."

"Tch," Shikamaru mumbled. "Fine, fine."

"Good," Temari confirmed, mildly satisfied. She paused for a moment before continuing. "…so Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei have something going on, huh?"

"Woman, you have no idea…"

"So she'll be gone for a while, then?" Temari asked, laughing at the easy smile on Shikamaru's face as he discussed the relationship between the two teachers.

"Yeah," Shikamaru said carefully, leaning back against his chair. "Actually, we could probably leave right now, if we wanted. She'd never know."

The two exchanged a glance, coming to a silent agreement.

When Kurenai-sensei finally arrived at the door to her classroom, hair looking ruffled and lips slightly swollen, Shikamaru and Temari were exactly where she had left them. Three hours ago. Shaking her head and smiling, she passed by the door and continued on to her car. Something told her the two of them would be there for a while.

* * *

"Hey Kurama, I'm back! And I brought a special friend!"

Naruto bounced eagerly through his front door, leading a wide-eyed Hinata into his home.

"You'll love Kurama!" Naruto told Hinata excitedly. "He's the best guardian ever! Oh, just a quick warning, he has a few anger management problems, and he's on probation for attempted manslaughter, but honestly, other than that, he's the bomb!"

"Um…what?"

"Ah, Naruto," a deep voice turned the corner into the main hallway, and Hinata couldn't help the terrified squeak that left her mouth when she saw Kurama. He was tall, at least 6'5", and built like an ox. He had untidy orange hair and eyes that were so light brown they were nearly orange. Hinata tried and failed to keep her eyes from going straight to his flowery apron and oven mitts, both covered in flour. "Is this the special friend you were talking about?"

"Yup, this is Hinata!" Naruto replied cheerfully, pushing the shaking girl forward. "She's going to be coming over a lot, is that all right?"

"But of course!" Kurama swept Hinata into a tight hug, and Hinata nearly passed out. This was all really too much for her to handle. When Kurama finally pulled back, he saw the sickly expression on Hinata's face, and he slowly turned towards Naruto.

"Naruto," he said, his voice deadly quiet. "Your special friend doesn't look to be feeling very well."

"Uh oh," Naruto murmured, taking a hold of Hinata and pulling her close to him as he backed away slowly. "This isn't going to go well."

"HOW DARE YOU BRING A SICK FRIEND TO OUR HOME?" Kurama screamed, oven mitts flopping to and fro. "SHE COULD DIE, YOU IMBECILE! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO THIS POOR, SWEET, PRECIOUS GIRL, YOU WILL PAY FOR IT, DO YOU HEAR ME? YOU. WLL. PAY."

"And there's that anger management!" Naruto grinned, chipper as ever as he grabbed Hinata and skipped up the stairs, the enraged cries of Kurama still echoing behind the two as Naruto pulled Hinata into a clean-looking bedroom and locked the door.

"Sorry about that!" Naruto laughed, taking in the horror that was evident on Hinata's face. "He can get a little antsy. But honestly, isn't he the best thing ever?"

Hinata still couldn't respond, though Naruto seemed to take that as her agreement with his statement.

"Good! If you don't mind, we're going to be chilling in the guest room for a bit…my bedroom isn't exactly…well it's not quite…anyways, that's not important. We're here to talk about the blossoming love between our fellow friends! Things are progressing a little too slowly for my liking, so we'll need to take matters into our own hands. And I know the perfect place to do it…"

**All right, all right, so this was kind of a filler chapter, just to tie up any loose ends that might be dangling out and about. Hehe. Give me a break, man! It's, like, 10:30 in the morning! My brain doesn't start functioning until about 3 pm…**

**And yeah, I'm too lazy to start writing about Gaara's party. Don't worry, my friends! That shall be the next chapter! Which I'm super excited about…but of course, after that, I have no idea how I want this story to go, so there might be a nice fat break after the next chapter. I don't know yet!**

**Ah, the reliability of authors. Gotta love it.**

**Keep it fresh, ladies and gents!**

**-Leah**


	6. Developments: Part 1

**A/N: Whoops.**

**So, Leah, where have you been for the past month? Oh, yeah, I was on vacation in Bangladesh feeding the overworked children in the capital city Dhaka, and therefore had no time/internet service with which I could update.**

**Yeah, I wish I could say something like that.**

**I AM SO SORRY. I know, it's been forever and a year since I last got back to you guys. I'm pathetic, right? I don't know, for some reason, every time I've tried to write it's been a whole bunch of angst. Now, don't get me wrong, I do love me a nice tall glass of cool and refreshing angst, but it just doesn't go real well when you're trying to write humor. Fascinating, huh?**

**Oh, and real quick, a big thank you to all you beautiful reviewers! Your reviews seriously make my day, and I would never find the will to update without you guys. You're the best! **

**You know, a lot of your reviews were giving me ideas on how Sasuke and Sakura could fall in love in _my_ story. Just to clarify, I wanted to know how they could fall in love in _real Naruto-verse._ I really appreciate all the suggestions, but I tried to kick them out of my head the moment I read them; don't get me wrong, your ideas were AMAZING (and one of the ideas was REALLY REALLY close to what I planned to do originally), but I want to try and keep this story within my own bounds. **

**Warning: Abuse of alcohol and mention of use of date-rape drugs. Nothing overtly nasty goin' down (YET ;)), but I thought I should give you a heads-up if you're not comfortable with all that stuff!**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill, ladies and gents…are there even any gents reading this story? Anywho, I own nothing but the poor, sad situations that I've thrown Masashi Kishimoto's characters into. And some ridiculously long A/Ns. **

"_Good," Naruto replied. "If you don't mind, we're going to be chilling in the guest room for a bit…my bedroom isn't exactly…well it's not quite…anyways, that's not important. We're here to talk about the blossoming love between our fellow friends! Things are progressing a little too slowly for my liking, so we'll need to take matters into our own hands. And I know the perfect place to do it…"_

The sound of a car pulling into the Haruno residence interrupted the quiet at 7:14 exactly, 14 minutes later than it should've, and it took all of Sakura's self-control not to jump out of her seat in elation. After all, she had been twitching nervously on the red plush couch closest to the door for nearly half an hour, waiting impatiently for Ino to pick up Hinata and Tenten before driving to her house.

"Cha, finally!" Sakura muttered under her breath. She walked towards the door and was about to open it when she was barreled down by none other than…

"MOM. DAD." Sakura yelled as her parents boxed her out in an attempt to answer the door first. "HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO GET TO THE DOOR BEFORE ME? THAT'S NOT HUMANLY POSSIBLE."

"Oh, you'd be surprised by what your father and I can do, dear!" Sakura's strawberry-blonde mother replied sweetly, turning to face her only child as Sakura's mauve-haired father guarded the door.

"But why do you guys care so much about answering the door for Ino?" Sakura intoned, disgruntled. "She practically lives here!"

"It's just Ino?!" Sakura didn't miss the clear disappointment in her parents' expressions as they backed away from the door and slumped onto the red plush couch, looking utterly defeated. "But what's Ino doing here?"

"I told you I was going to a party with her, Tenten and Hinata," Sakura reminded her parents absentmindedly, lacing up a pair of sandals and reaching for the green bag sitting on the dining room table. "I mean, who'd _you_ expect?"

"Sai," Sakura's parents answered simultaneously, and Sakura instantly lost her balance, pain lancing through her temple as her head banged the side of the table.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" And she was back to screaming, waving away the health inquiries of her parents as she rubbed her head vigorously. "Why would you ever expect Sai to be here? He lives halfway across the country!"

Her parents exchanged glances, nodding their heads in agreement before facing their daughter. Sakura hated those looks. It usually meant her parents were about to pull some hard-core manipulation on her: one of their specialties.

She was this close to demanding them to expunge all information on Sai when a doorbell interrupted her thoughts. Sakura glared at her parents. "I guess we'll talk about this later," she said, raising her eyebrows expectantly as she marched towards the door, more eager than ever to be out of her house. "I'll be back by midnight. Love you bye!"

"Wait, Sakura!" her father called after her, but the door had already swung shut.

Sakura's mother shook her head worriedly, the grin having left her face. "We should've told her earlier, Kizashi. She's not going to be happy when she finds out. And how did we forget she was going to a party today?"

"Ah, these kids are always going to parties." Kizashi waved away the remark. "We must have been too excited about the other thing happening today…"

"I suppose," Mebuki allowed, biting her lip. "But now she won't be here when it happens! I thought it would be better to have Sai tell her the news himself, but now…"

Kizashi let out a booming laugh. "You fret too much, Mebuki. Sakura will learn to love Sai as much as we do, I'm certain of it! After all, it isn't as though there's anyone else she's interested in, right?"

* * *

Sasuke tried to ignore the ramblings of his best friend in the passenger seat, but it was difficult when said best friend spoke at the level of ten decibels.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE REALLY COMING TO A PARTY, SASUKE!" Naruto exclaimed, gleeful. "YOU NEVER COME TO PARTIES! ESPECIALLY NOT PARTIES HELD BY GAARA…do you still feel awkward around him after he did that to you? Because I'm telling you, he doesn't do that anymore. Well, not most of the time. He probably only did it to you because the urge was too great to resist, you know, with your perfect Uchiha body and all…"

Kiba's eyes widened with delight. "Did you just tell Uchiha that he had a perfect body? Damn, that's just plain weird, right, Akamaru? I mean, who does that? Naruto should spend more time talking to dogs…"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Naruto. If you ever force me to drive Kiba and his idiotic dog around ever again, I will kill you."

"Course, teme!" Naruto replied, ever cheerful.

Sasuke grunted in annoyance before turning his attention to the road. "A party. What the hell am I going to a party for?"

"Oh, stop being such a sourpuss," Naruto chuckled. "This party is going to be quite special, as a matter of fact…" Naruto's tone suddenly darkened, and his smile turned demon-like. "MORE SPECIAL THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW."

"Jeez, Naruto," Kiba muttered. "No wonder you and Sasuke are best friends. You're both the creepiest people on the planet."

"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, DOGBREATH?"

"YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS, KNUCKLEHEAD."

Sasuke resisted the urge to bang his head against the steering wheel. It would possibly be the longest drive of his life. Why the hell did he agree to go to this party, again? Oh yeah.

Because of _her._

* * *

Sakura couldn't get out the door fast enough. Honestly, why her parents had to go bringing up discussions about _Sai _of all people was beyond her. Even if her parents _were _best friends with Sai's parents, it still didn't explain why they were so obsessed with that weirdo. It was bad enough that every Christmas break was spent with Sai and his parents visiting, Sai being his usual awkward, socially-backwards self and her parents waggling their eyebrows not-so-discreetly at the two of them for reasons Sakura would never understand. Were any other parents as crazy as hers were?

Sakura seriously doubted it.

She could barely hide her relief when she climbed into the front seat of Ino's familiar Audi, tossing her head back dramatically. "My parents are such nightmares!" Sakura groaned, and Tenten, Hinata, and Ino all giggled.

"Hi to you, too, Forehead," Ino said, reversing casually out of Sakura's driveway. "By the way, you look smokin' hot." Ino winked suggestively. "Not trying to impress anyone in particular, are we?"

"Oh, shut up!" Sakura laughed, hoping to hide the blush forming on her cheeks by waving the comment off. "You just love screwing with me, don't you?"

"I know another person who would love to screw with you, too, Sakura…"

"INO!" Sakura yelled, embarrassed as Tenten burst into laughter and Hinata hid her smile behind her hands. "That is so not cool!"

"It's all right, Sakura," Tenten said assuredly. "You don't have to be so shy about it! You _have_ liked Sasuke for just about your whole life. We've kinda gotten used to it."

Hinata nodded her head fervently in agreement. "Tenten is right! You don't have to hide your feelings in front of us!"

"In any case," Tenten said slyly. "You and Sasuke have been looking pretty good together recently, always walking to class together in the mornings and sitting near each other at lunch!"

Sakura smiled sadly. "Thanks, Tenten, but we all know about the agreement. No serious dating until we're seniors. We've got to stick by that."

At this, Ino bobbed her head up and down. "Billboard-brow, you are, unfortunately, right. But that doesn't mean you can't have something casual with him!"

"Yeah, but that would only work if he liked me," Sakura responded, exasperated. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she added quietly, "And he doesn't."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Bullshit, honey. Why do you have to be so blind? I mean, the only girl he ever talks to is you!"

"Maybe that's true," Sakura murmured, biting her lip. "But it doesn't matter. Just because he talks to me doesn't mean he actually…" "_Wants to,"_ was what she was going to say next, but she couldn't say the words out loud. Because, sure, she talked to Sasuke more than any girl in the school, and sure, for the past week, she'd been walking with him to first bell every day and sitting close to him at lunch. But their conversations were never more than a few exchanged words, usually about AP homework or some other frivolous topic, and he never seemed to show any interest in continuing the conversation further than that. He hadn't even asked for her number! She barely had the right to call him her friend, if he was even that, and she was positive that anything more than the polite friendship they held now wasn't even on his mind, let alone something he would actually _want._

Sakura shook her head roughly. "Oh, who even cares?" Sakura said loudly, catching the other girls' attention. "Right now, we're going to a killer party at Gaara's house, and Sasuke's going to be there because I asked him to come! Let's just focus on making this the most kick-ass party of the year, huh?

"You're right, Sakura," Hinata said, smiling kindly.

"Hell yeah she is!" Tenten cheered.

Ino smirked. "That's my girl. Now if you don't mind me interrupting…we're here."

* * *

The four girls walked casually up to the front door, and Ino twisted the knob and pushed the door open like she owned the place. The deep boom of the bass instantly made its way to the girls and music was blaring loudly from an open door to the basement.

"Well, hello there, ladies." The four turned to see Kankurou, hands in his pockets and the usual purple makeup plastered across his face, a habit no one really understood. "Nice to see you all."

"Same to you, Kankurou," Ino winked flirtatiously at the upperclassman, and Sakura rolled her eyes at her best friend's antics.

Kankurou smiled, shaking his head knowingly. "You guys should head on downstairs, everyone's really excited to see you."

"Guess that's our cue, then," Ino asserted, walking down the steps with her hips already swaying in preparation. Sakura followed behind her, nerves already fraught with tension. _"What if Sasuke's not here?"_ she wondered frantically, still winding her way down the steps as she heard Ino yell "Hey boys!" to the screams and cheers of the surrounding partiers. "_What if he is here and he ignores me? What if he thinks I'm boring and leaves to find another girl? What if he's already found another girl? WHAT IF…"_

"You're late."

Sakura whipped her head to the side. Leaning against the wall, arms crossed, wearing his standard t-shirt and khakis, was Sasuke. He was glancing at her out of the corner of his eye with his mouth set in a hard line, looking utterly displeased.

"Sasuke," Sakura breathed. "You're…you're really here."

"Yeah," Sasuke affirmed, though his mouth was still in a firm frown. "And you're three minutes late."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Ohmygoodness, Sasuke, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to…Ino was late picking me up…my parents, you see, they made me bang my head on a table, and then they blocked the door, and I…"

"Sakura," Sasuke interrupted, and Sakura was shocked to see a wide smirk on his face. "I'm kidding. Relax."

Sakura stared, openmouthed for a long moment before finally getting enough sense to speak. "You…you were…Sasuke, I honestly didn't think you knew how to joke."

At this, Sasuke let out a snort, and it was such a surprise to see Sasuke that close to laughter that Sakura burst into giggles herself. What was going on with Sasuke? Was it just that he was more uptight at school? Or had he already put down a few drinks…

Drinks.

Ami.

Karin.

Adding things to Sasuke's drink.

Without him knowing.

Ah, shit.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shot out quickly, ignoring the puzzlement spreading across Sasuke's face as he heard the alarm in her voice. "Have you had anything to drink yet?"

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. "No, I just got here about…"

"Okay good!" Sakura interjected quickly. "Would you just…hold on, for a second?"

"Yeah, I guess," Sasuke replied, tilting his head to the side in confusion. Sakura couldn't help but use a precious second to take in how freakin' adorable he looked (_why_ was he so perfect?) before turning and shoving past sweating bodies to get to Ino, who would surely be in the center of the largest group of boys…

"There!" Sakura grinned triumphantly, fighting her way past a very wasted looking Kiba to get to Ino, who was already giggling flirtatiously at the boy whose arm was settled comfortably around her shoulders.

"Ino!" Sakura yelled, feeling no sympathy for the boy who protested when she pulled Ino away. "We need to talk. Now."

"Sorry, babe," Ino called over her shoulder to the boy who was pouting unashamedly, wiggling her fingers goodbye. "Chicks before dicks!"

Sakura pulled Ino onto another one of the couches close by, trying to ignore the couple in a stranglehold beside them.

"So what's up, Sakura?" Ino asked, looking concerned. "You look a little panicked."

"I AM A LITTLE PANICKED!" Sakura shouted back. "We totally forgot about Ami and Karin's jacked up plan to screw up Sasuke's sex life forever! What is wrong with us?"

Ino paled for a moment before regaining her usual composure. "Relax, Sakura. Karin and Ami's little gang don't show up until at least an hour into the party. As long as you stay close to him until then, there shouldn't be a problem."

"I guess that's true," Sakura said, unsure. "But Ino, I just can't believe I forgot about this! Some friend I am to Sasuke…I guess I was just too caught up with…" Sakura halted, cheeks turning red as she stopped herself from continuing her sentence, though Ino did it for her.

"Too caught up with the thought of spending time alone with Sasuke?" Ino finished knowingly, and Sakura looked down in shame. "Oh, stop looking like that Sakura! So instead of thinking about those freaks Karin and Ami, you thought about how much fun you were going to have with Sasuke. That's not exactly a crime, you know! So don't go acting all down and out. Just go find him and have a good time, all right?"

Sakura raised her eyes to meet Ino, and nodded with sincerity. "You're right, of course," Sakura said, pushing herself up to her feet.

"Of course I'm right," Ino replied smugly. "Now, if you'd excuse me, Forehead, I've got some weak young men to seduce."

Sakura laughed as Ino slinked off, making her stride even more sultry than usual for Sakura's benefit as she herself headed towards the corner where she had left Sasuke. Nothing was going to go wrong, not tonight. Tonight was the night when she and Sasuke would have a chance to get to know each other. It would be perfect! Just the two of them, talking casually for once, maybe having a few drinks, maybe even dancing a little…

"_Like hell,"_ Sakura thought to herself, wildly entertained by the thought of Sasuke willingly dancing. She held a smile to her face all the way until the moment she caught sight of Sasuke standing right where she'd left him, still slouched against the wall, and looking bored as ever. Sakura's smile grew, if possible, even larger, and she moved through the packed bodies slowly, calmed by his very presence in her line of sight.

That was, at least, until she saw two other forms approaching him, one holding a red cup that was sloshing over the edges with a liquid that most definitely wasn't water. She could hear their shrill voices already:

"Heyyyyy, Sasukeeee! Have you had anything to drink yet?"

"We brought you a beer, if you want!"

Sakura's eyes widened as she took in Ami and Karin, offering Sasuke a drink, a drink that he readily accepted. "No," Sakura whispered as the cup met his lips, and his hand began to tilt the cup backwards. "No. No, Sasuke! Don't drink it! SASUKE!"

Sasuke froze, turning in surprise to see Sakura in a full-blown sprint, running towards him as though he were caught on fire.

"You can't…drink…that drink…Sasuke," Sakura panted, and Sasuke looked at her strangely.

"Why not?" he asked curiously, eying its contents now with suspicion.

"Well…you see…it's kind of…because…" _BECAUSE THOSE SENIOR BITCHES ARE TRYING TO RAPE YOU AND I HAVE TO PROTECT YOUR HONOR AT ALL COSTS. And possibly your virginity. Are you still a virgin? Not that I care, or anything. Just asking because I'm curious. I'm sorry Sasuke, I didn't mean to make you feel so uncomfortable. Please don't get a restraining order on me. Really, I'm only saying all of this for your own good. You'll thank me one day. Hopefully when we're married with three children…I'm sorry, was that too much again?_

Yeah, that would go over real nicely.

Sakura took a quick second to think before responding. "Uh…because…because I'm really thirsty. Can I have that one?"

Sasuke was still giving her a look, and Sakura wanted to facepalm. Was that really the best she could come up with? _"He must think I'm an idiot,"_ Sakura moaned to herself.

"Wow, Sakura," Ami commented immediately. "Rude, much? Go get your own drink."

"Really," Karin added snidely. "Are you so selfish that you would actually take poor Sasuke's drink just because you want it?"

"Yeah, we got this drink _especially_ for Sasuke," Ami snickered. "Not for you."

"I…I just…" Sakura sighed, feeling almost chastened. She hadn't thought about how her plan must look in hindsight, her sprinting through the crowds just so she could get herself a drink. _I'm such an idiot…_

"Calm down," Sasuke suddenly said, giving Ami and Karin an irritated glance. "I can get another one. Here." And he thrust his drink into Sakura's hands before disappearing into the crowd.

Sakura was trying not to squeal. He was such a gentleman! Giving her his drink, even when she was making such a fool out of herself…but it was purely an action of a friend, she reminded herself quickly. No need to give herself the false hope that Sasuke actually thought of her like that.

"Well, now what?" Sakura heard Karin groan. "How are we going to get the stuff to Sasuke now? We didn't count on him being such a nice guy all of a sudden…"

"Would you shut up!" Ami hissed, and Sakura didn't miss the glance in her direction.

"_So I was right!" _Sakura thought smugly, her Inner side cheering loudly. "_Looks like I stopped those no-good bitches from hurting Sasuke! Mission accomplished!"_

"Aren't you going to drink that?"

Sakura's thoughts halted. "Um, what?"

"Aren't you going to drink that?" Ami repeated, staring at Sakura like she was stupid. "Weren't you, like, dying of thirst, or something? You did just make Sasuke go get another drink, and now you're not even going to drink yours?"

"Of course I am!" Sakura snapped, immediately on defense. "I was just…"

"You were just what?" Ami asked, and Karin laughed derisively.

"Just…nothing," Sakura muttered, staring at the cup in her hands with apprehension. Well, now what? There was no way she could tell Ami and Karin that she knew about their little plot; if they were willing to use GHB on Sasuke, who knew what else they were capable of? Sakura shuddered. If she didn't keep her mouth shut, she'd probably end up in tiny little pieces in Gaara's backyard, with "A and K are smexiest forever" stamped into the ground above her. She was going to have to drink this stupid thing, and she knew it, and apparently Ami and Karin knew it, too. _For Sasuke, _she thought dully to herself. _I'm willingly drugging myself for Sasuke. Jeez, how much more dignity am I going to have to give up for this guy? _Without another moment's hesitation, Sakura threw back the drink, flinching as the taste of lukewarm beer hit her throat.

"Nice!" Karin grinned, impressed. "Never thought a goody-good nerd like you could put it away like that!"

"It was okay," Ami admitted grudgingly.

And without another word, the two flounced away, probably already plotting how they would next seduce Sasuke. Didn't they care at all that Sakura would be passed out in a corner, barely able to move, in less than twenty minutes? Hell, she could die! Didn't her old Health teacher say that taking a drug with alcohol could have fatal effects? And they were going to do this to Sasuke! Those heartless bitches…

Sakura sighed. Better her than him, she supposed. She was already starting to feel the effects of the alcohol on her slight body, and it wouldn't be long before the GHB would take its course, too. What would Sasuke think of her when she passed out after one drink? Although, she thought hopefully, maybe he'd be able to tell that something was wrong when she suddenly went comatose…

It was only after about fifteen minutes that Sakura realized that the GHB probably should've taken effect by now. What was going on? She was only 110 pounds, after all; the alcohol had travelled through her system quickly enough. Shouldn't the GHB be doing the same?

Sakura probably would've contemplated the enigma for the rest of the night had Sasuke not arrived when he did, balancing three cups in his hands and offering two to Sakura.

Sakura blinked.

"You said you were thirsty," he said by way of explanation, resuming his slouch against the wall as he eyed her, and was it her imagination, or did he look almost…unsure? "I thought you might need a few more drinks."

"I…" Sakura was at a loss for words. It wasn't like getting her a drink was that big of a deal; it was just that she hadn't even asked for one. It might've been the sweetest, most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for her! But that was probably the alcohol talking…

Sakura suddenly noticed the expectant look on Sasuke's face, and she realized, mind already muddled, that Sasuke was probably wondering why she wasn't drinking the two drinks he had gotten _specifically for her._ And the effect of the alcohol and the GHB and Sasuke's intoxicating presence not two feet away from her had her throwing back both drinks rapidly, noticing almost absentmindedly that he had gotten her ice, too, and that really was just a nice gesture.

Of course, it was immediately after she noticed this that the effects of three drinks in twenty minutes began to really take its course.

"Sasuke, thank you. Thank you SO MUCH. I don't know how I'd ever be able to really thank you for this. I didn't even ask you for these drinks! But you got them for me! It's just…I'm so _thankful,_ you know?"

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up. "Sakura, are you feeling all right?"

"All right?" Sakura let out a high-pitched giggle. "_All right?_ I'm feeling _amazing._ Even though I think I've had a wee little bit too much to drink. And the GHB can't be helping matters very much, either..."

Clear alarm was now on Sasuke's features. "What do you mean, GHB?"

"The GHB that was in the drink Ami and Karin gave you, silly! They were going to give it to you, but I couldn't let that happen, now could I? So I drank it instead!" Sakura snorted, feeling happier than she ever had: she was at a super-cool party with Sasuke, and she was having a super-great time, and everything was just plain old super! So why did Sasuke look so panicked?

"We have to get you out of here," Sasuke muttered grimly, taking Sakura's hand firmly in his own, and it took all of her self-control not to faint. Seeing as she was already pretty close to that point, it was a rather impressive feat. "Stay close to me."

"All right, Sasuke!" Sakura replied merrily, still holding the three red cups in her left hand and Sasuke's clenched palm in her right. He could've told her to jump under a bus right then and she probably would've done it.

The two weaved their way through the tightly packed crowd, trying to be discreet. Of course, when Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno are hand-in-hand, making their way upstairs, and Sakura looks like she's had a little too much to drink, it's a little difficult to be discreet.

"SAKURA, YOU LITTLE SLUT! I'M SO PROUD!"

"TAP DAT ASS AND DON'T LOOK BACK!"

"UCHIHA'S GETTING IT IN TONIGHT!"

"AW YEAH, SASUKE, YOU ANIMAL!"

Sasuke gave his best death glare to everyone in sight, and would have done far worse if it wasn't for the pink-haired girl clinging to his hand in a daze as she was finally pulled up the stairs and into the relative quiet of the first floor.

"Do you have your cell phone?" he asked sharply, leading her to the kitchen table and letting go of Sakura's hand as he pulled out a chair for her.

Sakura nodded, trying to clear her head. She was already feeling a little more like herself. "Yeah," Sakura answered, setting the cups on the table before pulling out her cell phone. She tried to hide the pout when Sasuke let her hand slip from his, but she didn't think she was doing such a good job. "Do you need to call…Sasuke?"

Because Sasuke wasn't paying any attention to her anymore. Instead, he was staring at one of the red cups, dumbstruck.

"Um, Sasuke?"

"Sakura," Sasuke suddenly said, and Sakura was taken aback by how relaxed he looked. Wasn't he all worried just a few minutes ago? "Would you say it's been a half hour since Ami and Karin gave me that drink?"

Sakura frowned, pondering it for a moment before answering. "That sounds about right. But I couldn't say for sure…the last ten minutes have been a bit…confusing…"

Sasuke let out a sigh of relief, slumping into the chair across Sakura. "Confusing. Yeah, I'd say so. Seeing as Ami and Karin apparently slipped GHB into the beer you drank."

Sakura looked stricken. "Did I really let that slip out? Sasuke, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I just didn't want you to…to worry. But you shouldn't! Worry, that is. You see, I feel totally fine. Except for the whole "I'm-totally-drunk-right-now" thing. Seriously, I don't feel any GHB effects at all!"

Sasuke then smiled, and Sakura nearly melted, wasted as she was, because it was his true smile, the one that barely anyone got to see. _"Reserved for me!"_ Sakura cheered in her head.

"What's reserved for you?"

Sakura paled. So much for cheering in her head. _Stupid, stupid, stupid…_ "Er…the power to not be affected by GHB?"

Sasuke shook his head, still smiling, and Sakura could almost feel the warmth that was radiating from him. "Sakura, Ami and Karin didn't put GHB in that drink."

"What?" Sakura was aghast. "But…but me and Ino heard them! They were talking about sneaking something into your drink, something that would make you theirs forever! What else could they be talking about?"

Sasuke raised one eyebrow before holding up the red plastic cup, the one Ami and Karin had given to him. He tilted it forwards so that Sakura could see what was scrawled on the bottom in pink sharpie…

"642-8364? The hell is that supposed to be, some kind of encoded love message?"

Sasuke smirked. "It's their number, Sakura."

Sakura's mouth dropped into a perfect "o". "So I…so all of this…they just wanted to give you their number?"

Sasuke nodded, pursing his lips in a failed attempt to hide his amusement.

Sakura suddenly felt her head begin to pound, and the room started spinning. "All of that…" she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut and slumping against the back of the chair. "All of that for a…for a ph-phone number?"

"Sakura, are you all right?" The worry was immediately back in Sasuke's tone, and hearing it made Sakura smile slightly. _Just like back then, huh, Sasuke? Seems like you've spent your whole life having to worry about me._

His voice grew more distant, more urgent, and as much as she wanted to respond, Sakura was already slipping away into a blissfully drunken haze, falling in more ways than one.

**I was reading back over this, and I realized that it isn't really funny at all. I'M SORRY. DAMN YOU, ANGST. Though I suppose all the mentions of rape may have also had something to do with that…ah well! **

***For the record, I do not condone rape AT ALL. People who do it are sick and twisted and deserve to be PUT IN JAIL FOREVER. Hence why, even though Karin and Ami are totally screwed up, they wouldn't go THAT far. Right? RIGHT?**

…**so, in other news, does anyone else think that Kakashi may or may not be the sexiest thing to have hit this planet (other than Sasuke, of course. And Itachi. And Gaara. And Minato. And you know what, might as well throw Pein into the mix, because for a reason I still can't quite explain, I find him ridiculously attractive. Does anyone else get that vibe?)**

**-Leah**


	7. Author's Note

**Hey there everyone!**

**Yeah, it's me. Back from the dead! But not really. I'll say it straight, guys, I hate that I haven't been able to update AT ALL. I don't even remember the last time I posted a chapter. Honestly, as much as I love writing and reading fanfiction, I've had to take a serious break because of how crazy school has been, and I don't know if I'll be able to update regularly anymore. You guys tell me: would you prefer me to update sporadically every three months or so? Or would you rather have me go on hiatus from this story and come back in summer, where I might be able to update weekly?**

The decision is yours, my lovely readers! I'm so sorry I can't be consistent with my updates, but school is, unfortunately, my main focus, and I also have to maintain some kind of social life on top of that, not to mention the other things I'm involved in, so this is really the best I can do. I'll leave it up to you guys! PM me, leave me a review, stalk down my address and send me a letter, whatever you want! 

**Thanks SO MUCH for the support, guys. It really means the world to me, and it's why I'm not willing to give up on this story. You all are the best, and don't you forget it!**

**3 Leah**


	8. Developments: Part 2

***blegh-hem* Hey there, pretty people. How much did you miss me? **;)

**Saying it's been a while might be a bit of an understatement. I haven't seen your lovely faces in…well, I've never seen your lovely faces, actually, so this line of thought is completely irrelevant. What I mean to say is, HI. HOW'S IT GOIN'. I'm back. After a long, much-needed hiatus, life has settled down a little bit, and I am in fact on spring break, which means I'm going to try and get some chappies out to you guys ASAP! **

**Thanks, guys, for waiting for me and for this story. It really means a lot to a pathetic little author like me, and absolutely all of you really are the best =) ONWARDS, FRIENDS.**

**When I say "Leah," you say "owns nothing!" "Leah!"**

**...**

**I'mma assume you all said "owns nothing" and call this a disclaimer.**

* * *

"_Sakura, are you all right?" The worry was immediately back in Sasuke's tone, and hearing it made Sakura smile slightly. "_Just like back then, huh, Sasuke?" _she thought to herself. _"Seems like you've spent your whole life having to worry about me."

_His voice grew more distant, more urgent, and as much as she wanted to respond, Sakura was already slipping away into a blissfully drunken haze._

Sakura opened her eyes slowly, trying to orient herself with a whole array of new surroundings that she didn't quite understand. As far as she could tell, she was lying on a pretty standard mattress, no sheets or blankets, and a thick, warm jacket was tangled around her legs. Pretty comfortable arrangements. She pushed herself into a sitting position, trying to assess the situation as quickly as possible so she could remember what happened.

Oh right. She'd passed out. From drinking, of all things, which was really just plain old embarrassing. Sakura shook her head, trying to forget the humiliation of the night. So long as no one whose opinion mattered to her had seen her in that state…

Blinking rapidly, Sakura noticed a figure sitting across the room, slouching casually against the chair with hands stuffed in his pockets, and Sakura had to fight the urge to faint. Again.

Because, though she did her best to not view the scenario from the perspective of a fangirl, she couldn't help but realize that she was alone. With Sasuke. In a bedroom.

This wasn't going to go well.

* * *

"Hinata. Hinata. Do you read me, Hinata?"

"Um…Naruto, I'm right next to you."

"Of course you are!" Naruto exclaimed. "Where else would you be?"

By this point, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Hinata blushed so vividly, people within ten feet were blinded by the brightness.

"So you remember the revised plan, right, Hinata?" Naruto asked in a hushed tone. "Shikamaru and Temari are upstairs playing Shogi, so it would appear we don't have to interfere too much. Sasuke and Sakura are also upstairs, so we have some time before we have to take care of them. Neji and Tenten are definitely the immediate problem here, but thanks to your intel, it would seem that we can easily revise that matter."

Hinata nodded, trying not to feel too guilty about the situation she was about to put Tenten through. After all, she knew for a fact that Tenten had a thing for Neji, though Tenten made Hinata swear to secrecy that she wouldn't breathe a word of it to anyone else.

_I'm doing her a favor! _Hinata told herself firmly. _This is for Tenten! _All right, it may have also possibly had something to do with the blonde, blue-eyed male next to her, but it was mainly for Tenten. Yes. Of course.

"All right," Naruto muttered under his breath. "Target is approaching. Hinata, you're on."

"Right!" Hinata made her way to Tenten, two beers in her hands and a large smile plastered on her face.

"Oh, hey Hinata!" Tenten grinned. "Don't tell me our designated driver is hitting the alcohol, too!"

"Oh, no!" Hinata said quickly. "These are for you!"

Tenten frowned. "I don't know, girl, I've already had a few, and you know what happens when I get too drunk…"

Hinata tried not to waver. Pushing down her conscience, she offered the two drinks again. "You'll be fine, Tenten! I can vouch for you!"

Tenten pondered it for about 4 more seconds before grabbing the drinks from Hinata's hands.

"Well, if you say so!" she said cheerily, throwing down the two drinks. "Got any more where that came from?"

Hinata sighed, grabbing another two drinks and handing them to an increasingly happier Tenten. _This is for her. Everything that Naruto and I are doing is for her. She'll thank me someday…probably._

And at exactly the right time, Naruto came by with Neji, the expression on Neji's face one of utter confusion.

"…which leads to the obvious conclusion, Neji, that the definitions of odd and even numbers have been skewed to support a more communistic view of politics…oh hey there Tenten!"

Tenten tilted her head to the side, eyes hooded as she took in Naruto and Neji. "Oh, hey there guys," she greeted in a sultry tone, stepping towards the two. "Either of you up for a good time tonight?"

Neji's eyes widened as he took in Tenten, who, in her buns and sweatpants, looked oddly…seductive. Naruto glanced between the two and grinned.

"Neji most certainly is!" Naruto shouted, pushing said male towards Tenten. "So you two crazy kids have fun!"

Naruto grabbed at Hinata's hand and pulled her until they were out of sight before cheering excitedly.

"Hinata, we are AMAZING!" he yelled, hi-fiving Hinata's limply held up hand. "Shikamaru and Temari are taking care of things on their own, Neji and Tenten are about to get it on, and Sasuke and Sakura are upstairs! In a bedroom! ALONE!"

Naruto chuckled evilly. "Oh, the possibilities…I think it's about time we gave my boy Sasuke a helping hand, doncha think, Hinata?"

"Um, yes?"

"THEN LET'S GO."

* * *

Sasuke was, at the moment, sending off his signature smirk, though Sakura could've sworn it was softer than normal. "9 o' clock and you're already passing out on me. I'm disappointed."

Sakura looked down sheepishly, trying not to slap herself for being such an inconvenience. Really, why did it have to happen like this? Why in front of _him, _of all people? Hadn't she already lost the majority of her dignity? Though if it managed to land her in a bedroom alone with him, what was she really complaining about…

"Sasuke, I'm so sorry. How long was I out?"

Sasuke shook his head, the smirk still evident on his face. "Maybe twenty minutes or so. You managed to make it up here before you…checked out."

Sakura sighed. "I guess that's something." She suddenly sat up straighter, taking in the jacket covering her legs. Warm, black, pullover…and suddenly Sakura's mind jumped into overdrive.

_Is this Sasuke's jacket?_ She mentally squealed, because as much as she hated squealing, it wasn't bad so long as she didn't reveal it to the public. Right. _Was he wearing this? No, no he was wearing a t-shirt and khakis…but it's cold outside! He might've taken off the jacket at the front door! Which means, while I was in that hazy drunken state, Sasuke probably grabbed his jacket and led me upstairs, his arm around my waist, gently laying me across the bed and using the jacket to protect my modesty, taking the seat across the room so I could sleep in peace, tucking the hair on my face behind my ear and gazing into my distant eyes lovingly…_

"Uh, Sakura? You okay there?"

It was clear to Sakura that the effects of the alcohol hadn't worn off yet.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, I was just zoning out a little."

Sasuke frowned. "It almost looked like you were swooning for a second…"

Sakura let out a short chuckle, trying to hide the furious blush that colored her face. Damn, he was good. "Swooning? Swooning?! Me?! Of course not! That would just…that would be so…so anyways, is this your jacket?"

Sakura smacked her hands to her mouth as soon as she said it, cursing herself as she took in Sasuke's raised eyebrows. Seriously, was she particularly stupid today or something? Sure, alcohol was supposed to lower inhibitions and all, but her inhibitions were currently flying out the freaking window.

"Way to be subtle about it," Sakura muttered, giving herself an internal beat-down for her own stupidity.

"It's not mine," Sasuke answered calmly, leaning back in his chair, and Sakura struggled to hide any sign of disappointment on her features, though she was certainly feeling it. Of course Sasuke wouldn't lend her his jacket. He's a friend, she reminded herself. Friend, friend, friend, friend, but he's also a boy, and if he's a friend, he's technically a boy friend, and if she would just stick boy and friend a little closer, he'd be a boyfriend…she could've sworn there was a point to this train of thought, but it really wasn't coming back to her.

"Um, whose is it, then?" she asked, trying to focus on the conversation that was actually taking place outside her head.

Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe Kankuro's? It was on the chair, so when I threw it on the bed, you decided to use it as a blanket."

Sakura nodded. A perfectly sensible and Sasuke-like explanation. "Well, thanks for sticking around and making sure, you know, I didn't stay passed out in Gaara's house until morning. That'd be pretty unfortunate. And awkward. So, um, thanks."

"It's no big deal," Sasuke returned, standing from his spot on the chair. "Either way, I think it's about time we leave this bedroom."

"Oh, yeah. Let's, uh, do that."

"NOT SO FAST!"

Sasuke and Sakura both turned towards the door, where the voice of a certain blonde dobe could be heard as clearly as if he was inside the room with them. Sasuke hesitated for a moment, as though debating whether or not it was worth his time to answer, and, sighing, responded:

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Naruto cackled gleefully from the other side of the door. "It would appear that Hinata and I have locked the door so that no one will…interrupt you two. Looks like you can't get out of this one, Sasuke!"

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a look before Sasuke turned back to the door. "Two things, Naruto. First, if you wanted to keep people from interrupting us, you should've locked the door from the inside. Not from the outside. And second…"

Sasuke walked to the door, turned the knob, and pulled it towards him to reveal the shocked face of Naruto and the embarrassed face of Hinata.

Sasuke smirked. "House doors only lock from the inside, dobe. Not the outside. Really, did you think this through at all?"

"DAMN YOUR WIT, SASUKE!" Naruto yelled before grinning ruefully. "I'll get you next time, you son of a bitch, you!" And with that, Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and merrily skipped away.

Sasuke turned towards Sakura, raising his eyebrows and glancing suggestively at Naruto and Hinata, hand in hand, Naruto oblivious as ever to Hinata's bright red face.

"He is, without a doubt, the dumbest guy I know," Sasuke noted, shaking his head.

"I think we can both agree on that," Sakura laughed, and suddenly, she couldn't believe how comfortable she felt. Was this Sasuke Uchiha she was talking and joking around with? Had she really just spent two hours—the state of unconsciousness aside—with him? And—the thought seemed almost impossible, but she was willing to believe in anything by this point—was he actually enjoying himself?

Sakura glanced at him, taking in the smirk on his face, how his slouch had grown a little straighter, as though he was actually interested in what was going on, and mentally fist pumped.

_HELL YES! He's totally enjoying himself! _Sakura's slightly more violent inner side cheered. _Look at that smirk! Look at that relaxed pose! Damn, we are good. Damn, he is good-looking. We're a perfect match. We're meant to be. This is GREAT._

"Hey, Sakura?"

Sakura suppressed her inner side long enough to take in the grimace now plain on Sasuke's features, the irritation clear in his body language as he held his phone and glanced through a text message.

"What is it?" Sakura asked, worried. Just a moment ago he'd been fine…

"Kiba threw up," Sasuke muttered, scanning his phone screen. "Seems like it's about time for him to head home."

Sakura blinked. "He…he's that wasted? Jeez, it's only 9 o'clock…that seems a little much, even for Kiba…"

Sasuke smirked. "This coming from the girl who passed out at 8:40?"

Sakura laughed, hiding her chagrin. "Oh, let's not even bring that up."

The smirk suddenly fell from Sasuke's face. "You've had plenty to drink, too. Someone else is driving, right?"

"Hinata," Sakura affirmed. "She usually takes the role of designated driver."

"Good," Sasuke murmured. "Then I'll be going."

Sakura nodded, doing her best not to read too much into it. Friendly concern. That's all it was. Watching Sasuke's retreating back, she suddenly found within her drunken mind the urge to call after him. _Yup. Those inhibitions? They've probably been violently and painfully killed by this point._

"Sasuke!"

He turned around quickly, raising his eyebrows expectantly, and Sakura hesitated for only a moment before continuing.

"Thanks for coming."

And again, that smile. Sakura thought that by now, the novelty would have worn off, but every time he smiled at her like that, a true, sincere smile, she felt her heart racing.

"These parties," he said slowly, bringing his onyx eyes to meet her emerald ones, locking her into place, smiling that smile that made her knees go weak. "They're not so bad."

And before Sakura had the chance to respond, he was gone.

* * *

"You ready?" Naruto asked Sasuke, heaving a drooling Kiba from the basement stairs.

"Yeah," Sasuke muttered, looking distracted as he swung his keys around his fingers. "Let's go."

"Let's," Naruto agreed, slipping into his shoes before glancing at Sasuke with curiosity. "Hey wait, you forgot your jacket."

Sasuke shook his head as he opened the front door. "No. I'm leaving it here."

Naruto frowned. "That was such a nice jacket, man! What, did you lose it or something?"

Sasuke smiled, eyes shifting upwards for just a moment before returning to his keys. "Don't worry about it, dobe. It's in good hands."

* * *

**AW SASUKE. Hahaha I hope I'm not the only one who thought that was cute… Again, the humor wasn't quite as prevalent in this chapter, for which you have my sincerestestest apologies! But really, someone needs to teach me how to write romance and humor at the same time, because I clearly can't do both.**

**Reviews, PMs, and carrier pigeons are all much appreciated! Get ready for some more action between our favorite couple in the next chapter YAYY!**

**Have a wonderful day, everyone!**

**~Leah**


	9. Elevation

**Hiya, ladies and gents!**

**Thank you so so SO much for all your beautiful reviews! Even just a few are really encouraging, so a huge shout-out to everyone who took the time to review (even you mysterious guest-reviewers out there, slinking around all suspicious-like. Yeah. I see you. I SEE YOU.)**

**You guys are the best! Just a heads up, the next few days I'll be visiting colleges, so I might not be able to update very frequently (that's also where I was the past few days). But then, when have I ever been able to do that?**

**Disclaimer: And I totally ran out of creative ways to say this…but y'all know the drill.**

* * *

_Naruto frowned. "That was such a nice jacket, man! What, did you lose it or something?"_

_Sasuke smiled, eyes shifting upwards for just a moment before returning to his keys. "Don't worry about it, dobe. It's in good hands."_

"Oh my goodness," Sakura muttered to herself, trying to ignore the pounding ache in the back of her head as she climbed out of bed. She shielded her eyes from the few rays of light that passed through her closed blinds, and did her best not to hurl.

Sakura groaned. She had never, ever, _ever_ been on the receiving end of a hangover. Like, ever. She knew she was a lightweight, so she usually limited herself to one drink for a whole night. She'd never downed three beers in less than ten minutes.

And clearly, she noted, staring at her haggard face in the mirror and her hair curling in twelve different directions, it wasn't something she wanted to do again.

The party continued rather uneventfully after Sasuke left, at least as far as Sakura's night went. She spent most of it curled up against the couch in Gaara's basement, trying to ignore the couple next to her and grab a few more minutes of sleep. As soon as Ino had driven her back home at around 1 in the morning, she'd gone straight to bed and crashed. She couldn't even remember whether she'd seen her parents after she'd come home.

Stumbling out her bedroom door, Sakura made her way to the bathroom with her eyes closed and her hands against the wall, because seriously, why did someone choose today of all days to turn all the lights in her house on?

Eyes still closed, Sakura found the door to the bathroom and pushed, walking in as slowly as possible. She kept her hands in front, grasping at the air so she wouldn't run into the shower curtain on the other side.

But for some strange reason, her hands weren't feeling air. They were feeling something warm, bare-skinned, slightly-muscled…almost like a…half-naked human male?

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

* * *

Sakura wasn't sure who she should direct her glare at, so for the moment, she chose her parents, who were smiling sweetly at her from across the breakfast table. She narrowed her eyes at them. Their smiles only grew wider.

"So…" Sakura broke the silence, trying to ignore the three guests occupying the other side of the breakfast table. "Does someone want to explain this"—she gestured to the three guests, refusing to make eye contact with any of them—"to me?"

"Well," Sakura's father began, glancing at his wife from the corner of his eye. "About that, we were trying to tell you last night, but you had your party, and we told you he would be coming eventually, so it's not as though we were lying to you or hiding anything from you, so…"

"Dad," Sakura interrupted dangerously. "That was not an explanation. That was a long line of excuses. Someone. Please. Explain. THIS. To me."

"I suppose I can do that," the boy seated next to Sakura inserted pleasantly, and Sakura turned, stone-faced, towards him.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding her head. "That'd be great. Now please tell me what you and your parents are doing in my house?"

The boy smiled, and Sakura felt the urge to punch him bubbling up in her stomach, though it could've been nausea. She still wasn't quite feeling at 100%.

Either way, Sakura hated insincerity. She hated fake smiles. And she hated Sai's most of all.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Ino called out as she observed herself in the mirror, dabbing at a tiny smudge of eyeliner. "You were alone in a bedroom with Sasuke Uchiha—drunk—and nothing happened?!"

"I tell you that Sai and his family moved into my house, and that's what you're choosing to focus on?" Sakura said tiredly, leaning against the door to a bathroom stall.

"Well, c'mon," Ino responded. "Let's be fair, here: it's Sai. Nothing even remotely sexual is going to occur where he's involved."

"Because the chances of something sexual occurring with Sasuke are so much higher."

"Exponentially," Ino winked, touching up her makeup one last time before swirling to face Sakura. "Anyways, didn't you say that Sai and his family are only staying at your house until they can find a place of their own?"

"Yeah, but what about after that?" Sakura countered quickly. "Sai's dad got a new job at the business just a few miles away. Wherever Sai's new house is going to be, it's going to be close. Too close."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "You don't think you're being too judgmental, Billboard-Brow? There are worse things in the world than social-ineptness…maybe."

Sakura snickered once before sighing again. "You're right, I guess. I can deal with him. It's not like he's going to ruin any important relationships in my life or cause any major misunderstandings between myself and the people I care about, right?"

"Right!" Ino affirmed. "Hey, by the way, we need to catch Hinata and Tenten before classes start. According to several sources, Tenten was all over Neji at that party…"

Sakura gaped. "Tenten…all over…Neji?"

Ino nodded, grinning, as Sakura shook her head fervently. "No. Never. Tenten does a lot of things while drunk, but Neji is NOT one of them."

"We'll just have to hear for ourselves, now won't we?" Ino replied, giving Sakura a devilish look as she grabbed her hand. "C'mon."

Ino pulled Sakura out of the bathroom, racing down the hall before finally locating the bun-head herself, sitting against a row of lockers with Hinata beside her.

"You!" Ino yelled triumphantly, pointing a finger at Tenten, who started at the sound of her voice. "You have some explaining to do!"

Tenten moaned at the sight of two of her best friends. "I knew this was coming…but could you maybe keep your voice down just a little?"

"Absolutely not!" Naruto cried out, racing down the hallway from who-knows-where. "Ino, don't let these people suppress your voice! Be loud and be proud!" And he was off once again.

Ino burst out laughing. "Well, that answers that question! Now, Tenten. You. Neji. Gaara's house. Explain all."

Tenten banged her head against the row of lockers, and Hinata covered her smile with a hand. Ino and Sakura exchanged an excited glance as they awaited what would surely be a good story, if Tenten's attempted brain damage had anything to say about it.

"Fine," Tenten finally got out. "It…it went like this…"

_At Gaara's house:_

"_Tenten, you're drunk," Neji said shortly as Naruto and Hinata fled the scene of the crime. "Don't do anything you'll regret."_

"Ooh, Neji almost sounds kind of attractive right now!" Ino whispered excitedly.

_"Regret?" I replied, confused. "I won't regret anything. I just wanna have a good time with you, Neji. And I know just how we can do that…"_

"Damn, Tenten," Ino laughed. "You get so horny when you're drunk."

"Ino, will you shut up?"

_I remember moving closer to him, and you know, his eyes are already huge, but they got even bigger. And then, before I really knew what was going on, he grabbed my hand and dragged me into one of the storage rooms in Gaara's basement. Not like this is out of character for him, he is a pretty horny bastard when we get down to it…_

"Agreed," Ino interjected.

"Ino, stop interrupting!"

_Anyways. You guys know how I am when I'm drunk, any breathing male between the ages of 10 and 50 starts looking pretty good, so I thought, you know, me and Neji. This is actually going to happen. Right here, in the storage room in Gaara's basement. _

"OHMIGOSH," Ino squealed, jumping up and down. "YOU LOST YOUR VIRGINITY TO NEJI IN GAARA'S BASEMENT?!"

Everyone within a 50-meter radius turned and stared, and Tenten whacked Ino upside the head.

"NO, I DID NOT!" she yelled. "I WAS JUST GETTING TO THAT PART. AND WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!"Ino zipped her lips.

_Right. Well, before I could do anything, Neji went rummaging through the stuff in the storage area, and he finally came up with some rope. My first thought was, jeez, Neji, you would like that kind of thing. My second thought was, ooh, kinky. Looks like fun. Neji walked over and I was all ready for shit to go down, but instead, he sighed and muttered, "This is for your own good, Tenten."_

_Then he tied me up with rope. Literally. Like, my arms and legs and everything, tight enough so that I couldn't move at all._

_He stared at me for a few seconds, then I swear, he turned a little red before sprinting out of the storage room._

Ino's mouth was wide open. "You mean…he just left you there? Alone in Gaara's storage room? That's pretty messed up."

Hinata shook her head. "Actually, right before Neji left, he found me and told me where he'd left Tenten. I don't know why he didn't just untie you himself, though…"

"I hate him," Tenten decided firmly. "Seriously. I hate him."

Tenten glanced up at the looks of disbelief on the faces of her three friends and frowned. "What's that for? I do hate him! Really, I do!"

Ino rolled her eyes. "You're so hopeless, darling. You're completely crazy about him, and you know it!"

Tenten didn't blush, but her eyes dropped to the ground. She'd been best friends with Neji when they were younger so of course, some feelings developed. When they finally got back to co-ed schooling, she thought they could at least go back to being friends.

But he had completely ignored her. Why? Because she wasn't sexy like Ino or cute like Hinata or beautiful like Sakura. She was just…Tenten. The girl who rolled around in buns, sweatpants, and gym shoes. And after so many years, it would seem that Neji became the kind of shallow guy who didn't pay any attention the Tentens of the world. Tenten hated guys like that. Always had, always would.

So why did she care so much about what he thought?

"So what?" she muttered roughly, under her breath. "I was willing to do whatever he wanted, and he totally rejected me. Neji, the guy who gets turned on by any girl within thirty feet of him, turned me down. I. Hate. Him."

"What a douche," Ino voiced angrily. "He is SO not worth your time."

Hinata nodded at Tenten shyly. "You'll find someone who can see you for who you really are, Tenten, not for what you look like."

Sakura cracked her knuckles. "How much pain do you want him to go through? Will just a little blood do the trick? Or do you want full-on hospitalization?"

Tenten stared up at her three friends before bursting into laughter. "Seriously, you guys are the best. And Sakura, full-on hospitalization sounds a little unnecessary at this point, but keep the offer open, would you?"

Sakura grinned. "Just say the word."

The warning bell tore through the girls' laughter, and Sakura scrambled to her feet.

"Shit! Sasuke probably left already!"

And she was gone, shoving through students in an attempt to get to first bell Calculus.

Ino shook her head, hiding a smile. "She's so in love with him, it's almost pathetic. Hey, did you guys know that nothing happened between him and her in that bedroom?"

"What?!" Tenten exclaimed. "Nothing? Man, what a let-down."

"Right?!" Ino replied enthusiastically. "I mean, what is with Sasuke and Neji? They have two totally gorgeous girls, drunk and at their mercy, and they don't try and take advantage of them? What kind of a world are we living in?!"

Tenten and Hinata chuckled. "Oh the misfortune," Tenten mocked. "A world where people respect each other. What are we ever going to do about that?"

Ino looked serious when she responded. "I just don't know anymore. If only there was someone pulling the strings behind the scenes and trying to make us all fall in love with each other by putting us into more of these kinds of situations."

Tenten snorted. "Yeah, but the only person dumb enough to actually go through with something like that would be…well, really just Naruto."

Hinata suddenly found the third floor tile from the wall incredibly interesting.

Ino shuddered. "And with that horrific thought in mind, I think it's time to leave."

"I guess I'll be going too," Tenten said, pushing herself up from the floor. "Hinata, stop staring at the third tile from the wall, it's creeping me out."

"Mmhmm! I'll do that!" Hinata squeaked, her voice much higher than normal, eyes still trained on the third tile. "Bye Tenten, bye Ino!"

It was only when the two were completely out of sight that Hinata felt it was safe to breathe again.

* * *

Sakura flew into her seat just as the bell rang, and she breathed a sigh of relief. _CHA! _She mentally cheered. _Like I'd let my six-year perfect attendance record go that easily!_

She took a deep breath, steeled her nerves, and turned to face the person sitting next to her; the next major task of the day.

"Hi, Sasuke."

Sasuke glanced up before nodding once and returning to his slouched position. Sakura let out a breath of air. What was that supposed to be? Was that…indifference?

_God, please, _she prayed in earnest. _Anything but indifference. Seriously. Anything. Do you know how long it took me to get past that stage of indifference? Do you realize just how much of my dignity has had to be sacrificed? I can't go back there. I can't. Please don't make me. _

Her internal ramblings were interrupted by Kakashi-sensei, who, for once, actually had something to talk about that was related to math.

"All right, class" he said calmly, leaning against the teacher's desk with his hands in his pocket. "I've graded the first test of the semester, and, no surprise, the grades were abysmal. Nice work, everyone."

"Maybe that's because you never teach us anything, you lazy-ass!" someone from the back called out, and most other students nodded in agreement.

"What was that?" Kakashi said dryly, eyes already focused on the door. "I couldn't quite hear you. Try speaking up next time. Anyways, you can come up here and grab your test to see your grade. I'll be, um…in the teacher's lounge. Yeah. Let's go with that."

Kakashi-sensei was halfway out the door before he stopped. "By the way, if any of you have questions about the test, you can ask Sasuke. He got a 100%."

The class turned almost as one, mouths open to stare at Sasuke, who was, momentarily, staring out the window, clearly bored out of his mind. Sakura merely shook her head, smiling.

"You haven't changed at all, have you, Sasuke?" Sakura said, trying to hide her admiration. After all, he was a veritable genius, and had been ever since she'd first met him. It wasn't much of a surprise that he got a 100%.

Sasuke shrugged, still turned towards the window. "How'd you do?"

"I don't know, I haven't picked it…oh!" Sakura noticed the packet facedown on her desk. "How'd this get here?"

Sasuke smirked, finally turning to face her. "It's been here since the beginning of class. Not very observant, are you?"

Sakura struggled to come up with a response, she was so surprised. Had he gotten her test for her? He must have; it wasn't like she had any other friends in the class. And just now, had he been…joking around with her? He must've been, from the way his eyes were crinkled at the corners, how his smirk was teasing, almost friendly, and she felt the need to breathe another sigh of relief in as many minutes. So they had moved forward, then.

"Thank you, Lord," she whispered quickly under her breath. "It's good to know You understand the pain of indifference, too. I appreciate that."

"Uh, Sakura?"

"RIGHT!" Sakura turned back to face Sasuke so quickly, her hair whipped the side of her chair. "Conversations with human beings. Human beings being you. Okay. Right. How'd I do on the test? I got a 68. Wait, what?"

She was so caught up in her ramblings that she hadn't noticed the big fat "D+" circled at the top of her page, a colon in between the "D" and the "+" to form a sad face. Courtesy of Kakashi-sensei, no doubt.

She tilted her head, flipped the paper upside-down, narrowed her eyes, held the page up close, anything she could think of. But the 68 wasn't changing.

"How…how?" she murmured, glancing at Sasuke, who was looking at her with an expression she couldn't read. "How did I get a D+? I've…I've never gotten a D+ before. Never, ever, ever. Like, ever. What…?"

The day of the test came flooding back, and Sakura nearly pulled a Tenten and started banging her head against the desk. Of course. Sasuke had sat in front of her that day, and he was wearing the shirt she loved best, the long-sleeved navy blue one that seemed to fit him perfectly, the one that caressed the curves of his muscles and complemented his onyx eyes so flawlessly, and…

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…" Sakura chanted it softly to herself, over and over, to remind herself just how embarrassing she really was. Seriously, of all the reasons to get a 68 on a test…

"You're not stupid," Sasuke interrupted shortly, and Sakura turned meekly to face him. "It was just a bad day. Everyone has them."

"You don't." Sakura said, hoping she didn't actually sound as pouty as she did in her head.

Sasuke smirked. "Well, I'm me, aren't I?"

"Point," Sakura conceded. "But still. Starting the semester off with a 68 in Calculus isn't how I wanted junior year to go. It's going to take a lot to get this grade up to an A."

"That really depends," Sasuke said vaguely, balancing his chair on its back two legs.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "Depends on what? On whether I can magically become a genius like you?"

"That's one option," Sasuke said, leaning into his chair. "But there's an easier one."

"And…that would be?" Sakura asked hopelessly.

"A tutor."

"A tutor?" Sakura exclaimed. "But…I mean, I've never had a tutor before. And anyways, you heard Kakashi-sensei, he said everyone in the class got terrible grades! The only one who didn't was…"

Sakura stopped. He couldn't possibly mean…there was no way that Sasuke Uchiha would be willing to…was he talking about…

"Me," Sasuke finished her sentence, and Sakura gaped.

"So…so you would…Sasuke, you would…?"

"I would…what?" he asked innocently, corners of his mouth twitching. "Spit it out, Sakura."

Sakura, in the meantime, was having quite the internal conflict. Surprise, surprise.

_I can't get tutored, that's a complete hit to my pride! I'm a good student, dammit, a good student! _

_**Are you insane? **_Sakura's inner side was on the attack. _**Sasuke freaking Uchiha just voluntarily signed up to be your tutor and you're actually debating saying no?!**_

_It's not that! It's just…it wouldn't feel right. I technically got the bad grade because I was concentrating on him instead of math, right? Would getting tutored by him help? Or would it make things worse?_

_**Who gives a damn?! Free alone time with Sasuke, where you can get "tutored", which everyone knows is code for "banging the hell out of each other."**_

_We've been spending too much time with Ino…_

_**Yes. We really have. That's why we need to mix it up. With SASUKE UCHIHA BETTER KNOWN AS THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE. **_

_I wouldn't go so far as to call it love…yet…_

_**ARE YOU REALLY TRYING TO ARGUE SEMANTICS WITH ME RIGHT NOW?! SASUKE IS TRYING TO TAKE THINGS A STEP FURTHER, INTO THE REALMS OF TUTORING, AND *YOU'RE* THE ONE TRYING TO STOP HIM?!**_

_OKAY. Okay. Fine. You've made your point._

"Sasuke," Sakura finally managed to get out. "Will you…will you tutor me?"

The answering smirk was all she needed to assure her that she'd made the right choice.

* * *

Tenten stared at the note on her desk, a position she'd been holding for the past half hour of class. It wasn't that the note was long or complicated, but it certainly required thinking. A lot of thinking.

_Can we talk? Meet me after school._

_-Neji_

* * *

**OHO DAMN THINGS BE HEATIN' UP. Mwuhahaha we're getting close to some of my favorite chapters…I'm so excited to write them! These are a few of the ideas I plotted out at the beginning, some eight months ago, and I can't believe I'm actually getting the chance to put them down on paper. It's gonna be GREAT. **

**And…could it be…is Neji not a complete freak? IS HE AN ACTUAL HUMAN BEING?!**

**…nah. Impossible. After all, he's passing notes in class. What kind of a weirdo does stuff like that anymore?**

**I was sadly lacking in carrier pigeons from the last chapter, so maybe I'll just ask for reviews this time. Anything you have to say is worthwhile, even one or two words, because it either encourages me to keep going or tells me what I need to work on, and both are pretty darn important =) Thanks!**

**3 Leah**


	10. Progression

**OHMIGOSH 50 REVIEWS?! I know, this is a landmark most other stories reach by like, their second chapter, but it means the world to me. Oh goodness, so much sentimentality…*chokes gags dies* I really can't handle that stuff…in any case, thanks to everyone who's been reviewing. Y'all are the best! =)**

**Just to clarify, the main couple of this story IS Sasuke/Sakura, so I'm sorry if the other couples don't get as much love.**

**NO, DAMMIT. I DO OWN NARUTO. SCREW YOU MASASHI KISHIMOTO.**

**No I'm totally kidding. I love you, Kishimoto-san. You're the bomb diggity. And the sole owner of Naruto. Not me.**

* * *

_Tenten stared at the note on her desk, a position she'd been holding for the past half hour of class. It wasn't that the note was long or complicated, but it certainly required thinking. A lot of thinking. _

_Can we talk? Meet me after school._

_-Neji_

Tenten spread her hand open before closing it into a fist, spread it open once more, then closed it again, using the crumpled up note as a pseudo-stress reliever as she contemplated the various ways she could kill Neji Hyuuga.

"Leave it to a genius to forget to tell me the place we're supposed to meet," she muttered to herself in irritation, still flexing her palm as she leaned against her locker. The final bell had rung, most students had already left, and the hallway was now quite empty, save for Tenten herself.

Sighing, she couldn't help but wonder what she was doing here in the first place. What did Neji have to say to her that was so important it had to wait until after school? She'd seen him at lunch and he hadn't even made eye contact with her, let alone acknowledge the fact that he'd written the note at all. Maybe he hadn't written it, and the whole thing was just a figment of Tenten's imagination. At this point, she wasn't sure which option would be preferable.

Just when she was about to give up and go home—something she felt she should've done ten minutes ago—who else would come jogging down the hallway but Neji himself.

"You're here," he said, his expression one of subtle relief.

Tenten grunted, and in a remote classroom on the other side of the school, Sasuke shivered.

"I didn't think you'd show," Neji continued, eying her warily.

"Well, I did," Tenten said bluntly. "So what do you want?"

Neji sighed. "I just want to…clear some things up."

"That's certainly specific," she returned sarcastically. She knew she wasn't making this easy on him, but why did she care? He had never once stopped to consider her feelings, so she most certainly wouldn't do the same for him.

Neji plowed on. "The party on Friday…I was just wondering…I mean, when we were alone, and you were a little bit on the drunk side…"

Tenten blanched. He couldn't be having this conversation with her. He couldn't be. It wasn't enough that he had completely rejected her, now he had to rub it in her face? Well, she certainly wasn't going to take that.

"What about it?" she shot back. "When I'm drunk, I'll try and pick up any guy within sight. Don't feel too flattered about it."

Neji blinked. "Oh. Is that how it is?"

Tenten raised an eyebrow, doing her best to mask the lie she was about to tell. "Please don't tell me you thought I actually felt something for you. Even you can't be that arrogant."

Neji shook his head, and Tenten was surprised to see a smile on his face. "No, not at all. I actually thought you were trying to...well, never mind."

Tenten couldn't help her curiosity, though she kept her tone brusque. "What? What did you think I was trying to do?"

"Prove a point," he admitted, running a hand through his hair. "That I really do need to get a hold of myself."

"Get a hold of yourself?" Tenten wasn't sure why she kept repeating everything he was saying, albeit in a gruffer voice than his. Maybe it was because his words were actually starting to sound like they came from the old Neji, the sardonic, dead-panning, childishly-fun Neji, the Neji she'd completely fallen for…er, in a platonic kind of way. Repeating those words made it all the more real.

Neji continued on, having the grace to look sheepish. "With girls and everything. I thought that you were trying to show me that I needed to, ah…calm down."

Tenten gaped. "Why in the world would you think I'd do that?"

"Because you're the only person who's ever been able to smack any kind of sense into me. Why would that change now?"

Tenten stared, and the smile on Neji's face disappeared. "What? What is it? Did I say something wrong again?"

Tenten looked away. The way he was talking right now…he wasn't at all acting like the creepy pervert he appeared to be.

"Listen," Neji spoke up quietly, and Tenten kept her eyes trained on the floor. "I know we haven't exactly been getting along very well recently. I apologize for that."

"S'okay," Tenten muttered to the floor, but the roughness of her voice sounded weak even to her own ears. Where had all her fire gone? She could've sworn she was angry at him just a few minutes ago…but now that she was actually having a conversation with him…had she really thought she understood him from a first impression? She'd always hated people who'd done that, and yet, hadn't she done the very same thing with him? Really, other than his apparent hormone problem…well, he really hadn't changed very much.

Had she judged him too soon?

"You know," Neji said, and she saw his feet move forward. "We used to be best friends."

"…I know that."

"So, at least once in our lives, we were able to get along pretty well."

"…yeah, I'd say so."

"So would it be too much if I asked you to try getting along with me again right now?"

Tenten finally looked up, and Neji was staring at her with wide, hopeful eyes. Child-like, almost.

She nearly groaned. Her constant connections of the present Neji to the Neji of the past could mean only one thing: she still had feelings for him.

And it annoyed her to no end.

"Are you trying to _ask_ me to be your friend?" Tenten said as condescendingly as possible. "Or is this an attempt to be the lamest guy ever? Because trust me, it's working out great."

Neji broke out into a grin again. "You haven't changed at all."

Tenten grimaced. "Yeah, sorry about that."

But Neji was shaking his head vehemently. "No. It's a good thing. A very good thing. My best friend was the best just as she was."

He winked at her, but it wasn't anywhere near as creepy as it had been when it was directed at Ino. In fact, it was almost…charming.

"Well, then," Tenten said, clearing her throat and doing her best to keep the sound of her pounding heart on mute. "If we're going to be all buddy-buddy now, you can start by buying me something to eat. I'm starving."

"Of course," Neji replied smoothly. "But I'll be expecting something of greater or equal value tomorrow. Preferably greater."

Tenten whacked him on the arm, and the two laughed, beginning their walk towards the student parking lot. Comfortable—that was the word to describe the atmosphere.

She was comfortable around him.

"You know," Tenten said softly, averting her eyes. "It works both ways."

"What do you mean?" Neji asked, eyebrows furrowed at her tone. "What works both ways?"

She looked up at him, then, and smiled back as sincerely as a girl like her could muster. "You haven't changed much, either. And that's a really, really good thing."

Neji's eyes caught hers for a moment, and she realized belatedly that her expression right now was probably akin to a lovestruck puppy. Not the kind of face she wanted to be caught with right now. Or ever.

"Last one to your car is buying!" she yelled suddenly and took off down the hallway.

Neji rolled his eyes, continuing his steady walk. "Tenten, you're so childish. You still want to do silly things like that?"

Tenten stopped at the glass door at the end of the hallway and frowned. "Neji, I thought we just discovered that you weren't a pervert and a killjoy. Don't ruin it!"

Neji caught up to her, pushing through the door and holding it open. "I had to grow up a little bit, didn't I?"

She sighed, and let out a small chuckle. "Well if you're going to be all chivalrous on top of it, I guess I can give you some leeway."

Tenten's foot had just passed through the doorframe when Neji shoved the glass door straight into her, not enough to hurt but certainly enough to throw her off balance, sending her falling to the floor.

"Looks like you're buying," he called calmly over his shoulder before taking off at a light jog towards his navy-blue Sedan.

Tenten sat only for a moment, stunned, before bursting into laughter. "Neji, you sly bastard!" she shouted after him. She pushed herself off the ground and followed behind him, still chuckling, and trying hard to fight the feelings that were still gnawing painfully at her chest. For now, she didn't want to think about them. She didn't feel like thinking about much at all, really, except for one thing:

She had her best friend back.

* * *

"YOU'RE GOING ON A DATE WITH SAKURA?!"

"I'm tutoring her."

"BUT I HEARD FROM TWENTY-SEVEN EXTREMELY CREDIBLE SOURCES THAT YOU ASKED HER OUT!"

"I'm sure you also heard that I handed her a bouquet of roses and professed my undying love for her in the middle of this very classroom."

"SO THAT DID HAPPEN!"

Sasuke glared at Naruto, the latter of whom was bouncing around the empty AP Calculus classroom with glee.

"Sasuke loves Sakura, Sakura loves Sasuke, Sasuke loves Sakura, Sakura loves Sasuke," Naruto sang as he continued to skip around the room.

"Naruto, if you don't shut up within the next five seconds, I swear I'll…hold on. Did you feel that?"

Naruto stopped his skipping to take a look at Sasuke, who looked to be a little on the pale side. "What's up with you?"

"I don't…" Sasuke muttered. "I thought I felt the force of someone grunting…"

"Not possible," Naruto interjected quickly. "Everyone knows grunting is your terrain. Don't even let the thought in your head."

Sasuke relaxed, settling down into his chair a little. "Yeah, yeah you're right. I'm just overreacting."

"How about you pour all those passionate emotions into your date with Sakura?" Naruto asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"It. Is. Not. A. Date."

"Fine," Naruto amended. "_Tutoring session._ Which everyone knows is just code for banging the hell out of each other anyways. So it's really the same thing as a date."

Sasuke stared blankly at Naruto, and Naruto let out a sound of frustration.

"Come on, man, work with me here!" Naruto cried out. "Even if you're going to give me that look, I know something is up between you guys. And for the record, in the ten years I've known you, I've always suspected you were asexual. So don't try to tell me I'm imagining things!"

Sasuke continued to stare, and Naruto nearly tore his own hair out.

"Okay," Naruto finally said, voice dangerously calm. "Answer this question, yes or no. Do you like Sakura?"

"Yeah, I do," Sasuke answered, and before Naruto could begin to fist-pump in elation, Sasuke continued on. "Just how I like my mother and cats and tomatoes and, through no choice of my own, you."

"Was that a confession?" Kiba asked, popping his head around the corner, and Naruto threw a pencil at him just as Kiba ducked out of the way, laughing like a maniac. Naruto whirled around to face his prey once again. Said prey was doing his best not to smirk.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. "Do you like-like her? Like, you know, have legitimate romance-y feelings for her?"

"Hn."

"I knew it!" Naruto was triumphant. "I knew you liked her! Damn, man, couldn't you have just said that, like, ten minutes ago? That would've made my life so much easier."

"I never said that I…"

"Oh, I can speak grunt, Sasuke," Naruto said, an evil gleam in his eye. "The raw pain that your attraction to Sakura is causing you is too easy to catch. I thought a guy like you would be hiding it, but you're really announcing your feelings to the whole world with a grunt like that!"

Had Sasuke's life really come to the point where he had to call Naruto Uzumaki his best friend?

"Would you shut up and listen to me for just one…"

"Nope!" Naruto interrupted cheerfully. "Now that I know you have feelings for her, it's clear that I'll need some external help. This is going to take some planning, but I think that if I pull the right strings, I'll be able to make it work. Teme, don't worry about a thing! This date with Sakura will go perfectly! Leave it to me!"

Naruto dashed out of the room before Sasuke could say anything else about the matter, and Sasuke had the feeling that whatever Naruto had in mind would be as scarring as the first time he'd ever been introduced to Gaara. And he considered that to be the third most traumatic experience of his life.

No, Sasuke understood that Naruto had nothing good in store for the tutoring session between Sakura and him. Sasuke understood that any hopes of tutoring would probably fly out the window. Sasuke understood that Naruto would find a way to make the "date" as uncomfortable and awkward as possible.

But for some reason Sasuke didn't understand, he made no effort to stop the blonde-haired dobe as he raced out the doors, no doubt to seek out his co-conspirators. Instead, Sasuke chose to remain in the AP Calculus classroom, chair tipped on its back two legs, eyes closed, with a small smile playing at his lips.

* * *

**Oh, Naruto. What in the world are you getting your poor friends into? XD**

**R&R, my lovelies!**

**~Leah**


End file.
